Review of The Asphalt Jungle (1950) by Tomas T — 17 Apr 2010

The Asphalt Jungle is a a classical film noir heist movie excecuted superbly. Storywise the movie is by the book heist movie, a gang is put together for a lucrative heist which of course does not go as planned. Granted the story is nothing mind boggling and that is fine as all the other areas of the movie are rock solid. Sterling Hayden pulls a great role as the "hoodlum" who lives on the edge and is the main reason why Asphalt Jungle keeps such a tight grip over the viewer through the movie.

Even if the story is rather basic for its genre, I liked it wholly and the way the plot twist is introduced was fantastic. No need for bangs and whisles, the twist is known early on but still when presented, it is emotion raising and intense. The ending is also very memorable and overall the movie leaves an totally satisfied feeling. The Asphalt Jungle is worthy of all the praise it gets and is definetly among the top heist movies ever made.