Ask the Dust (2006)

Robert Towne, who wrote the script of Chinatown, wrote and directed this drama, once again set in 1930s Los Angeles. Colin Farrell plays Arturo Bandini, an impoverished Italian-American writer seeking fame and fortune in the City of Angels but finding nothing but poverty. Salma Hayek plays Camilla, a fiery Mexican beauty who, while working in a coffee shop, seeks a rich husband to fulfil her American dream. The unlikely pair hook up and, despite their different backgrounds, find love in this enjoyably tough, almost noirish film.