Ask the Dusk

Bland and lifeless, except when he’s throwing harsh racial slurs at his supposed love interest, Colin Farrell plays a poor Depression-era author in Los Angeles with aspirations of achieving the American Dream of fame, fortune and female. The “female” in this idealized formula is one tough-as-nails Mexican waitress (Salma Hayek) who thrives through the surface antagonism of her acid-tongued lover. Despite the heated untraditional relationship and Donald Sutherland’s portrayal as the quirky neighbor, this literary film noir moves at a snail’s pace with no clincher to hold your interest as the clichéd plot points drag forward. Too bad acclaimed writer/director Robert Towne got bogged down with this forgettable film.