Country: U.S.A.
Genre(s): Crime /
Drama
Director: John
Huston
Cast: Sterling
Hayden / Sam Jaffe / Louis Calhern
Plot
A group of
professional criminals plot a massive jewel heist.
What I Liked
*spoiler alert*
“The Asphalt Jungle”
takes on its subject with a matter-of-fact straightforwardness that was quite
edgy for its time. There is not one iota
of the hokey “ripped from the headlines” moralizing to be found in earlier
films like “Scarface” yet neither is crime glorified or idealized in any way
whatsoever. Every prominent character in
this heist film is a crook and not the stylish, suave George Clooney of “Ocean’s
Eleven.” These are gutter low-lifes,
compromised policemen, and white collar hypocrites with no more than a handful
of redeeming qualities between all of them.
The filmmakers make no attempt to create a sympathetic backstory for one
of them or try to show them as adhering to some imaginary thieves’ code of
honor. What we are given is a bunch of
scoundrels as quick to betray each other as anyone else. It’s a hard-boiled approach that produces a
stronger sense of authenticity than most of the crime movies that preceded it.
They may not be heroic characters, but they are well developed ones. In fact, the ability for this film to produce
such strongly unique characters and balance them all effectively within just a
two hour span was quite impressive. I
was intrigued by the fact that each of these characters carries with him his own
baggage into the film, his own set of insecurities, ticks, and secret desires
that motivates him to embark upon this greedy, risky endeavor. Those weaknesses inform virtually all of
their actions throughout the film and, like a great tragedy, eventually lead to
their individual defeats. Of course, “Asphalt
Jungle” is no tragedy. Tragedy implies
the ruin of potential, a squandered beauty.
There is no potential or beauty in these men and their various ends are
less a matter of tragedy than justice.
The moral, psychological,
and plot complexity of “The Asphalt Jungle” make it a very modern movie. As such, its influence can be seen in
elements of a great many films, with “The Godfather,” “Goodfellas,” “The Usual
Suspects,” “Pulp Fiction,” and “Jackie Brown” coming most immediately to mind.
What I Disliked
Sterling Hayden just
isn’t a good actor. I felt the same way
about his performance as Captain McClusky in “The Godfather.” In face and body, he looks the part; I’ll
give him that. But when he speaks his
lines, his delivery is as though he still has the script in his hand and is
reading them for the first time. His
physical performance is equally as clumsy, each movie or gesture seeming
memorized more than natural. In one
scene where he is injured and desperately trying to walk, the poignant moment
is made almost comic by his silly clumsiness.
It should be noted, however, that most of the rest of the cast bring
remarkable believability and complexity to their roles.
Most Memorable Scene
*spoiler alert*
In contrast to
Hayden, Louis Calhern is remarkably natural and believable in virtually any
role I’ve ever seen him in. He’s one of
those character actors that can really steal a film from its star. His performance artfully hints at the rampant
insecurities beneath the outward charm of slimy lawyer Mr. Emmerick, which
helps to make the scene of Mr. Emmerick’s destruction as compelling as it is
inevitable. Of course, it doesn’t hurt
that a young and shimmering Marilyn Monroe is given amble screen time in this
scene, providing a different kind of cinematic intrigue altogether.
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5
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