Layer Cake

This is a rather well made and flashy movie, that in the end is still nothing more than an average British crime movie.

The fact that this movie doesn't really raise above the level of average is due to the story. It's not necessarily a movie with a confusing story but its more a movie that makes things unnecessarily hard on itself, just to let the story seem more complex than it in fact truly is. It's as if the movie tried too hard to be something that it just isn't. On top of that the story also isn't always interesting or original enough to follow. The beginning is good and so is the ending but the middle drags a little and offers little new.

So you can say that the story-telling is worse than the actual story. Sure the movie is made with lots of pace and style but it seemed to me as if the director lost track of things at times. Matthew Vaughn is also still a beginning director, so I'm sure of it he will learn from his mistakes and he'll become a better director one day.

It isn't really a tough gangster flick, though the intentions are definitely there. I feel that the movie would had been a better one of it was even more brutal and straight-forward. Also some more humor and less serious characters would had worked out better for the movie. No, this really unfortunately ain't no Guy Ritchie movie, who still makes the best British gangster movies.

But of course this still obviously is a good movie to watch. The actors carry the movie and in the end the movie also offers some nice and thoughtful twists, like you always could expect from a British gangster movie.

Daniel Craig was a surprising and great leading actor. It's not his best role but still he mostly carries the movie entirely on his own. The movie is still filled with lots of fine supporting actors, such as Colm Meaney, Michael Gambon, Dragan Micanovic, Sienna Miller, Dexter Fletcher and George Harris. Especially nice to see Colm Meaney in a big production again. Sienna Miller's role seemed to be completely redundant on some other characters on the other hand got underused, such as the Dragan Micanovic's one.

A rather good movie to watch but not the must-see everyone makes you believe it is.

7/10

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I went into Layer Cake with no expectations. Being honest, I found the trailer tedious the second time I saw it. I didn't like the whole cake idea, it was okay to a certain extent I guess. I did however enjoy Lock Stock and Snatch. Layer Cake is a different kind of animal.

Whilst Lock Stock and Snatch were more comedy based, Layer Cake has this more serious approach, no names flashing on the screen, identifying any of the characters, so you have to pay extra special attention!

There are several flashback/sub plots which don't particularly help as they can confuse you if you're not paying attention. There were many characters introduced to you in a short space of time and then suddenly going off at a tangent involving some of the 'slightly minor lead' characters.

You can see the influences of other directors in Matthew Vaughn's end product. The direction style is good and the montage is solid.

Daniel Craig gives a good solid performance. His narrative does help place him well in the movie. His narrative in the beginning is definitely something that draws you in. The rest of the performances are pretty good. Tamer Hassan has a minor role. After seeing the major role he had in The Football Factory, he can act, he should have possibly had a larger character. His character does not shine across as that 'demented' as that in The Football Factory. Sienna Miller was underused also, which was a shame.

Although there are some problems with the story, Matthew Vaughn has made a respectable movie. This being his debut, he has nothing to be ashamed of. As long as he works on the clarity of the plot more, he will have no problems securing full audiences. Layer Cake gives a good reputation to British films instead of the some rubbish released over the last few years.

I enjoyed the ending, it was good, I'm not going to say anything about it!

My rating 7/10

After being cast as Bond, Daniel Craig's back catalogue is now much sought after. Although Craig came to most of the UK's attention with a stand out performance in Our Friends in the North, it's Layer Cake that showcases why he got the Bond audition. Perhaps now, this strong contender for the best thriller of the year may find the audience it deserves. Mis-sold as a more art house friendly addition to the Guy Ritchie school of crime films, Layer Cake is a unique and remarkable experience.

The plot is deceivingly simple and would wrongly be placed in the gangster-wanting-to-retire-peacefully cinema staple seen frequently in Al Pacino movies. It is a much greater accomplishment that the audacious visual style, superb script and excellent performances make easy comparisons to this film pretty difficult. If anything it is closer to Schrader's 'American Gigalo' where the morally questionable hero is engulfed in a situation going on around him. The predominantly male cast is faultless with everyone from Dexter Fletcher to Michael Gambon putting in superb turns to give the characters justice. Far more human than the cartoon stereotypes we've come to expect after so very many Brit gangster flicks. Craig has never looked in better shape for taking on Hollywood.

Hats off then to Matthew Vaugn for filming Britain as it can look. Grimy in places but every bit astonishing in locations as our Stateside cousins. We've grown too used to seeing rain pouring and hackneyed clichés that have represented this country on celluloid. It's not foppish. It's not Bend It Like Beckham. So there really is no excuse left not to see it (aside from the awful trailer). Layer Cake deserves a wide audience and there's more than enough of everything for everyone to enjoy. At times hilarious, astonishingly frank and incredibly concise the whole film is a pure joy and clearly made for people that love film. Makes you wonder why they can't all be as classy as this.

"Layer Cake" may not be a particularly original film. Its plot seems reminiscent of countless others, e.g. "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels". Nonetheless, it is a stylish and entertaining one and keeps the viewer hooked right up until the final scene.

Daniel Craig plays a drug dealer (whose character is not actually named and who is referred to simply as "XXXX" in the closing credits) in London. He regards himself as a businessman rather than a criminal. He professes to a hatred of guns and violence and he goes about his lucrative dealings in a low-key manner and in a way designed to keep himself under the radar and out of trouble. His aim is to make some money and to retire to Spain or somewhere similar to enjoy the fruits of his ill-gotten gains. However, his plans come awry when, on the threshold of retirement, he is asked by a powerful crime boss with whom he has done a number of deals in the past (Jimmy Price, played by Kenneth Cranham) to find the missing daughter of a friend and associate of his. That friend and associate turns out to be Eddie Temple (brilliantly portrayed by Michael Gambon), who is even more powerful, devious and ruthless than Price. It transpires that Price's motives in asking for his friend's daughter to be located are not as altruistic as they seem. Price also asks Craig's character to find a buyer for a huge consignment of drugs that have, in fact, been stolen by another dealer (The Duke, played by Jamie Foreman) from a ruthless Serbian drugs gang whose leader Dragan has a penchant for beheading anyone who gets in his way. Craig's character finds it difficult to say no to the powerful Price and so he embarks on a course that raises his profile and makes him enemies.

"Layer Cake" is a riveting film. Although its plot earns few marks for originality, it is a well- written one (by J J Connolly, who based the screenplay on his own novel of the same name) and is clearly and accessibly portrayed. There are several clever twists that are plausible and unexpected. I have seen so many films of this sort in which the plot is either ludicrous or does not hang together properly. That is most definitely not the case here. The direction is very good and Craig himself is excellent in the starring role. The supporting cast, which contains a number of well-known British character actors as well as stars such as Gambon, are all very good too. The soundtrack, which features British rock music by the likes of The Cult and Duran Duran and which makes good use at the end of the film of Joe Cocker's version of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", perfectly complements what we see on the screen. There are some minor visual continuity errors. One such is that the injuries on the face of Craig's character after he receives a going over from his fellow gangsters for supposed disloyalty are not compatible with each other in succeeding scenes. I also think that the film's attempts at humour are somewhat misplaced. Here are two examples. Temple is portrayed as liking opera and in one scene is keen to complete a conversation so that he can get away to go to a performance of Berlioz's "The Damnation of Faust". A northern hit man, when travelling in a taxi with Craig's character, is more keen on practising his oral French in readiness for an imminent test than on a more normal conversation. These two scenes are presumably intended to lighten things up. But they seem merely to be bolted on for the sake of it and add nothing to the development of either character. These are minor weaknesses though.

"Layer Cake" is an entertaining film that is well worth seeing. 8/10.

The trailers to Layer Cake left me with mixed feelings. Usually when a trailer needs to draw reference to 'one's we made earlier' (in this case Lock, Stock, and Snatch) when the writer or director of said films has nothing to do with the project, the end result is a poor copycat. After watching the film, I am more than impressed!

Layer Cake introduces us (once more) to the world of the cockney gangsters, and the dealing of drugs. The medication of choice this time is Ecstacy, and the set up involves an up-and-coming name in the dealing trade being thrown a job by one of the big names. Sent to find a missing girl, and also buy and sell on a large shipment, it all seems like easy work. However, as he soon finds, things are not always as they seem, and before long his life is at risk when the deal begins to go sour.

For the first 20 minutes of the film I couldn't decide whether it was going to be a Lock, Stock, or Honest (the dreadful All Saints film). The film uses the obligatory 'catchy' tunes from the past 2 decades, and uses the same type of framing of scenes as the genre. For the first 20 minutes, whilst we were introduced rapidly to the characters in the tale, it was hard to discern where the plot was going, and even harder to care much about the players. By the half way point I was engrossed! The plot twists and turns at various points throughout, and you do begin to care about the lead character and the associates around him.

The film oozes cockney cool, and although not quite on par with the best of the genre, it is still a worthy, and very engrossing, offering from director Matthew Vaughn. Stylishly shot, with a great soundtrack, this is one of those films that blokes will walk out of very pleased, but their partners may not feel the same way. Whilst not really violent or sexist in nature, this is a lads film through and through, and it is one cake that I want another slice of.