Ask the Dust
Paramount Vantage | Release Date: March 10, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
58
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 33 Critic Reviews
Positive:
16
Mixed:
14
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
Something is missing, though. The themes are all there, but the movie doesn't cross the blood-brain barrier and rev you up. Read full review
60
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Highlighted by a strong and sensual performance from Salma Hayek as the doomed heroine, elegant pic's muted quality and the central character's vexingly contrary behavior will keep auds from connecting with characters who themselves have trouble establishing bonds. Read full review
60
Dallas ObserverRobert Wilonsky
Farrell's performance possesses a touch too many mannerisms on loan from Tyrone Power and Clark Gable; you can almost hear the gears turning in his brain each time he cocks his head or raises an eyebrow in homage. Read full review
60
EmpireKim Newman
A curiously resistable drama, despite several strong elements - the most notable being newcomer Idina Menzel. Read full review
58
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
Miscast, constricted, loose in tone and meandering in intent, it has far fewer moments of inspiration than unintended laughter. Read full review
50
TimeRichard Corliss
Ask the Dust is the ghost of a cult novel; it can't bring itself to life. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Ask the Dust is beautifully shot -- sepia becomes the ravishing, affecting Ms. Hayek. Unfortunately the images of the heaving waves of the Pacific in the moonlight, of mountains rising over scrub and cactus in the sunlight here, serve only to emphasize the emptiness of the drama unfolding in the foreground.
50
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Though the film offers a meticulously rendered Depression-era L.A., it's not in the same league as "Chinatown," for which Towne wrote an Oscar-winning script. Here, the characters seem shallow, their motivations murky. Read full review
50
New York PostKyle Smith
Watching it is like being in a restaurant where the waiter brings out a luscious platter of food, then keeps walking right past you. All night long. Read full review
50
PremiereJohn Migliore
Farrell and Hayek are two beautiful people with absolutely no chemistry. Even when they're lying in bed together, they're so far apart that they might as well be in different movies. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldPeter Debruge
It would seem Towne is too much in love with the book to recognize its fundamental limitations as a film. Read full review
42
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
Farrell is badly miscast as an ethnic Italian with an inferiority complex, the star-crossed love story has very little emotional pull, and even the (heavily CGI-enhanced) period atmosphere ultimately seems rather forced and self-conscious. Read full review
40
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Alternately grandiose and abject, Bandini is a sort of underground man, and if no more miscast than usual, heartthrob Colin Farrell miserably fails to convincingly render Bandini's neurosis. Read full review
40
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
One of the most eagerly awaited cinematic projects of 2006, which may be why it lands with such a curious thud. Read full review
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