A project Towne had long sought to bring to the screen came to fruition in 2006 with '' Ask the Dust '' , a romantic period piece set in Los Angeles based on the acclaimed novel by John Fante and starring Colin Farrell and Salma Hayek . Towne had found the novel while researching '' Chinatown '' , looking for material that would honestly describe that particular era of Los Angeles . He became so entranced by the book that he arranged to meet with its author — himself a screenwriter — in person . " I was an unknown , " Towne said . " I had n't written anything of note . " But Fante greeted the young fan with accusations like " What makes you think you 're any kind of judge of my work ? " '' Ask the Dust '' received mixed reviews and failed at the box office . The film was entered into the 28th Moscow International Film Festival
28th Moscow International Film Festival
28th Moscow International Film Festival
Robert Towne