| Boredom and Amazement |
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| written by talltale |
July 31, 2006 - 7:37 AM PDT |
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1 out of 1 members found this review helpful
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ASK THE DUST start out so charmingly and interestingly that I found myself thinking, "What was wrong with critics and audiences that this film flopped so badly?" Then the movie passed the half-hour mark and.... now I know. By the end, I'd been treated to one of the duller stories of a sour relationship with most of the clichés intact but without any specifics that might reveal the depths of that relationship. What was Robert Towne, director/adapter of John Fante's novel, thinking in order to end up with something this simple-minded and pointless? Perhaps his love for the book (which I have not read) blinded him to the differing strengths and needs of novels and movies.
Whatever: the series of increasingly lifeless scenes between Farrell & Hayek culminate in an almost laughably sentimental and silly ending. Idina Menzel (everyone's favorite "Wicked" witch) fares best, due to her rather brief appearance, which is full of anger, need, sadness and more life that anyone else exhibits here. Caleb Deschanel's cinematography is crack, as usual, and we do get an eye-opening look at Hayek's incredible body but only a glimpse of Farrell's full-frontal. The latter was deleted from "A Home at the End of the World" for artistic reasons because this supposedly amazing sight might have thrown the movie off-kilter. "Ask the Dust" could sure use a little "amazement," from whatever source it might be found. |
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