The Asphalt Jungle

A bit dark for my tastes, but you can't deny the power of the film. An excellent film noir.

One of the best-known examples of film noir, John Huston's Asphalt Jungle follows the trail of an infamous heist-meister, fresh out of jail, and his plans to pull off one last score before retirement. Sam Jaffe is cool-headed and convincing as the brains behind the operation, while a ragtag cast of backup anti-heroes pay the price as the whole thing slowly starts to unravel. A young Marilyn Monroe makes several scant appearances as nothing more than eye candy, still so green she only occasionally stops gazing straight into the camera. It's noteworthy that few characters are as black and white as the film stock, a trademark of the genre, even if their motivations ultimately prove sinister and selfish. A worthwhile slant on the heist picture that's crammed full of smoke and atmosphere, it expertly balances several competing characters and pays off every story, most with unusually dark consequences. Quite good, but not great, it creates some new conventions while bowing to many others.