Marilyn Monroe lights up the screen in The Asphalt Jungle. Unfortunately she's only on the screen for around five minutes. And the rest of the film disappoints. It's a simple heist film. We see the plotting of the caper, we see the caper take place, we see the aftermath. None of this is particularly interesting. The caper is meticulously planned. All that planning doesn't make for much entertainment, you really wish the film would hurry itself along to some action. Then the action comes and just as quickly goes. The execution of the caper has its moments, there is some tension and drama. But afterwards the drama drains away as we just wait for each conspirator to meet his fate. The caper was not executed perfectly, there were some problems. And even more problems await our burglars. Their little caper seems to have fallen apart. And the movie falls apart too.
For a heist film there is very little excitement to be had here. The whole thing is very dry. Sterling Hayden plays Dix, the member of the gang the film ends up focusing on most of all. And Hayden is dry as dry can be, there is no personality or life in the role. In playing Doc, who masterminds the heist, Sam Jaffe is a little more interesting. But he, like everyone else in the film, is encumbered with some rather lousy dialogue. Everything is clipped and clunky and highly unnatural. The third key player is Louis Calhern, playing a lawyer who agrees to finance the caper even though he is actually completely broke. This of course ends up causing all kinds of complications. At least this character brings Monroe into the picture, playing his young mistress. Monroe adds a little spark into the proceedings but it's not nearly enough to salvage the film. The whole last half of the film plods along with a sense of inevitability to it. It turns into a 1950s morality play, look at what happens to dastardly criminals. The one detective we meet in the film is totally corrupt. But that doesn't stop the police commissioner from late on in the film launching into a ridiculously preachy speech about how wonderful the police are. By this point in the film you might be stifling yawns. The film really drags as it heads for the finish. The Asphalt Jungle is a highly regarded film but honestly it is hard to see why. There is very little entertainment on offer in this incredibly overrated film.
For a heist film there is very little excitement to be had here. The whole thing is very dry. Sterling Hayden plays Dix, the member of the gang the film ends up focusing on most of all. And Hayden is dry as dry can be, there is no personality or life in the role. In playing Doc, who masterminds the heist, Sam Jaffe is a little more interesting. But he, like everyone else in the film, is encumbered with some rather lousy dialogue. Everything is clipped and clunky and highly unnatural. The third key player is Louis Calhern, playing a lawyer who agrees to finance the caper even though he is actually completely broke. This of course ends up causing all kinds of complications. At least this character brings Monroe into the picture, playing his young mistress. Monroe adds a little spark into the proceedings but it's not nearly enough to salvage the film. The whole last half of the film plods along with a sense of inevitability to it. It turns into a 1950s morality play, look at what happens to dastardly criminals. The one detective we meet in the film is totally corrupt. But that doesn't stop the police commissioner from late on in the film launching into a ridiculously preachy speech about how wonderful the police are. By this point in the film you might be stifling yawns. The film really drags as it heads for the finish. The Asphalt Jungle is a highly regarded film but honestly it is hard to see why. There is very little entertainment on offer in this incredibly overrated film.