Layer Cake

"Excellent"

Layer Cake Review


Matthew Vaughan, producer behind the entire Guy Ritchie oeuvre (Lock, Stock, & Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, and... er... Swept Away), makes his directorial debut with Layer Cake, another tale from the British criminal underworld that thankfully avoids any association with aging pop icons. Instead, Vaughan opts to take some of the elements of Ritchie's earlier work - colorful deviants, dark humor, Seinfeld-esque coincidence - and give them his own, slightly more somber spin. The result is an engaging 104 minutes that stakes its own claim on the genre.

Daniel Craig is credited as "XXXX" (oh, if only he were the new "XXX"), a "businessman," as he puts it, whose name we never learn. His business just happens to be cocaine. He plays by a strict set of rules - pay connections on time; keep a low profile, etc. And, like every other lowlife with whom we're supposed to sympathize in a gangster film, he's just about to retire. Until his boss, Jimmy Price (Kenneth Cranham) throws him two curveballs that shoot his plans all to hell.

Jimmy wants XXXX to find the missing daughter of one of Jimmy's old friends, wealthy tycoon Eddie Temple (Michael Gambon). At the same time, Jimmy has also set up a deal where XXXX is to buy a million pills of ecstasy from The Duke (Jaime Forman), an unsavory and decidedly flashy dealer (two qualities XXXX abhors). Neither of these missions is what it seems, and soon XXXX is lost in a world of double-crossing crime lords, Serbian vendettas, and blonde vixens (well, one to be exact, but in a film with only three female roles, that will have to do).

In a Guy Ritchie movie, the mishaps and betrayals XXXX encounters would be approached with a sort of murderous glee. Here, the tone is a little more serious, though Vaughan makes room for the occasional morbid jest. Colm Meaney, as Jimmy's devoted lieutenant Gene, delivers plenty of laughs, sometimes with nothing more than a sideways glance during a murder. But the overall mood suggests a traditional noir, with plenty at stake for the protagonist, and plenty of menace coming from his adversaries.

This shift in tone extends to another trick Vaughan lifts from Ritchie - ironic use of pop music. In Snatch, Mrs. Ritchie's "Lucky Star" scores the car-dragging of a criminal, and, in essence, makes the scene pretty damn funny. Here, a brutal beating (intercut with the gunning down of key characters) unfolds to the strains of Duran Duran's "Ordinary World." The effect, though, is more jarring, as the soundtrack itself skips with every other blow that lands.

The casting is near perfect. Gambon effuses the right balance of class and sleaze as double-dealing entrepreneur Temple. George Harris nicely underplays his role as XXXX's right-hand-man-with-a-past Morty. And as XXXX, Craig carries the film ably, vividly conveying the anguish of a man who, for the first time, has to deal with the messy side of his chosen profession. It doesn't hurt that Ritchie alums Jason Flemyng (whose single line in the film is one of the best) and Dexter Fletcher make appearances as well.

Screenwriter J.J. Connolly smoothly adapts his own novel, interweaving multiple plotlines while making room for voluminous exposition. There's a lot of backstory here, but Vaughan's flourishes and the actors' sharp delivery makes that aspect just as entertaining.

In the end, the somewhat more mature mood of Layer Cake suggests that perhaps Vaughan is going for something a little more than just having fun with expletives and bullets. Buried somewhere in there (and explained maybe a little too clearly near the end) is a commentary on corporate culture (the "layer cake" in question). The confection that results is a must for those who like their tough talk delivered with an English accent.

The DVD includes deleted scenes, two alternate endings, a commentary track, Q&A with Craig, and a behind-the-scenes featurette.

Aka L4yer Cake. Reviewed at the 2005 Philadelphia Film Festival.

How about some tea, too?



Layer Cake

Facts and Figures

Run time: 105 mins

In Theaters: Friday 1st October 2004

Box Office USA: $2.3M

Box Office Worldwide: $2.3M

Budget: $8M

Distributed by: Sony Classics

Production compaines: Sony Pictures Entertainment, Marv Films

Reviews

Contactmusic.com: 4 / 5

Rotten Tomatoes: 81%
Fresh: 109 Rotten: 26

IMDB: 7.4 / 10

Cast & Crew

Director:

Starring: as XXXX, as Gene, as Morty, as Slasher, as Jimmy Price, as Duke, as Tammy, as Eddie Temple, as Sidney, Dragan Mićanović as Dragan, as Clarkie, as Shanks, Louis Emerick as Trevor, as Cody, as Terry, as Larry - Crazy

Contactmusic


Links


New Movies

Star Wars: The Last Jedi Movie Review

Star Wars: The Last Jedi Movie Review

After the thunderous reception for J.J. Abrams' Episode VII: The Force Awakens two years ago,...

Daddy's Home 2 Movie Review

Daddy's Home 2 Movie Review

Like the 2015 original, this comedy plays merrily with cliches to tell a silly story...

The Man Who Invented Christmas Movie Review

The Man Who Invented Christmas Movie Review

There's a somewhat contrived jauntiness to this blending of fact and fiction that may leave...

Ferdinand Movie Review

Ferdinand Movie Review

This animated comedy adventure is based on the beloved children's book, which was published in...

Brigsby Bear Movie Review

Brigsby Bear Movie Review

Director Dave McCary makes a superb feature debut with this offbeat black comedy, which explores...

Battle of the Sexes Movie Review

Battle of the Sexes Movie Review

A dramatisation of the real-life clash between tennis icons Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs,...

Shot Caller Movie Review

Shot Caller Movie Review

There isn't much subtlety to this prison thriller, but it's edgy enough to hold the...

Advertisement
The Disaster Artist Movie Review

The Disaster Artist Movie Review

A hilariously outrageous story based on real events, this film recounts the making of the...

Stronger Movie Review

Stronger Movie Review

Based on a true story about the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, this looks like one...

Only the Brave Movie Review

Only the Brave Movie Review

Based on a genuinely moving true story, this film undercuts the realism by pushing its...

Wonder Movie Review

Wonder Movie Review

This film may be based on RJ Palacio's fictional bestseller, but it approaches its story...

Happy End  Movie Review

Happy End Movie Review

Austrian auteur Michael Haneke isn't known for his light touch, but rather for hard-hitting, award-winning...

Patti Cake$ Movie Review

Patti Cake$ Movie Review

Seemingly from out of nowhere, this film generates perhaps the biggest smile of any movie...

The Limehouse Golem Movie Review

The Limehouse Golem Movie Review

A Victorian thriller with rather heavy echoes of Jack the Ripper, this film struggles to...

Advertisement
Artists
Actors
    Filmmakers
      Artists
      Bands
        Musicians
          Artists
          Celebrities
             
              Artists
              Interviews