Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with the first time I've had some time to take a breath since leaving Austin last Tuesday. I had a couple days in LA where I visited 2 different sets (more on those next week), I've chatted with a couple random filmmakers and have been doing the Santa Barbara Film Festival for 3 days.
The Stones are playing on the Super Bowl as I write this... sounding very off-key and not at all like themselves. But in this downtime (I have a movie at 10pm), I figured I'd get caught up on some reviews, starting with the opening night movie ASK THE DUST from legendary filmmaker Robert Towne, a period flick set in 30s Hollywood starring Salma Hayek and Colin Farrell.
I have a lot of respect for Robert Towne... I'm sure a lot of you read that and go, "Ut-oh... If you're going to start saying something like that..." and you'd be right. I have a lot of respect for the man, but I really felt ASK THE DUST was dull, uninvolving and kind of pointless. The film is based on a John Fante novel which I have never read, so maybe there is something buried underneath the film that I just didn't get. Whatever the reason, I felt disconnected through the whole film.
It could be because I really don't understand the attraction between our two leads. I saw it there, don't get me wrong. Salma Hayek and Colin Farrell both put in solid performances and have a definite chemistry, but their romance, which is the center of this whole movie, is based on him calling her a worthless wetback and her calling him a Wop loser. It's almost like a George Lucas romance. "I hate you and you make my insides vomit pure bile... but I love you." I don't doubt the authenticity of the romance (after all, Fante's book is supposedly very autobiographical), but I just can't really connect to a romance like that as a viewer.
Visually, the film is very nice. Of course it is. It's shot by Caleb Deschanel (PASSION OF THE CHRIST, BEING THERE, THE NATURAL) afterall. The period LA sets are great and the acting is solid. Usually that'd add up to a great movie, but with all that going for it I wouldn't call the flick better than okay at my most positive.
Now's the point where a few people who have completely dismissed the movie will turn right around and decide to be first in line... Salma Hayek gets butt-ass nekkid in the movie. A lot. And she's absolutely gorgeous. Donald Sutherland pops up for about 5 minutes, too, and he's really damn good in it, playing a sleazy old man who lives in the apartment next to Farrell's character.
Like I said, there's a lot done right in the movie, but nothing made it feel warm to me. I sort of cared about Farrell and Hayek, but not really. You know what I'm talking about? It's a film that I recommend seeing only if you're a period film lover, a major Robert Towne fan or a naked Salma Hayek fan. But I wouldn't start lining up or anything.
Sorry if this review sucks, but I just can't really muster any solid feelings one way or the other. It's a very "meh" film for me.
I have a few more movies to chat about, that I liked a lot more, so keep an eye out for those reviews. I'm also pretty sure I'm conducting a rather high profile interview tomorrow, one that could blow people's minds if it happens and the interviewee is feeling chatty. Keep checking back for that one!
-Quint
