Layer Cake
Ratings
(My Rating - 7.8 out of 10)
(IMDb Rating - IMDb Rating - Layer Cake)
(Rotten Tomatoes Rating - Rotten Tomatoes Rating - Layer Cake)
What it's all about
In this stylish British Noir, on eve of Mr. XXXX's planned retirement from drug-dealing business, his boss gives him two tough assignments - to search for missing daughter of boss's friend and to crack one of the most important drug deals for his boss.
Behind the Camera crew
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Written by: J.J. Connolly
Producer: Adam Bohling, Stephen Marks, David Reid Matthew Vaughn
Actors
Daniel Craig, Tom Hardy, Michael Gambon, Kenneth Cranham, George Harris, Jamie Foreman, Sienna Miller etc.
Review
After producing Guy Ritchie's cult classics such as "Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" and "Snatch", Matthew Vaughn made his directorial debut with "Layer Cake" in year 2004.
After producing Guy Ritchie's cult classics such as "Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" and "Snatch", Matthew Vaughn made his directorial debut with "Layer Cake" in year 2004.
One can feel the similar sleekness, style and punch in Layer Cake as we enjoyed watching Ritchie's movies. However, there is a major difference in approach from these two directors - Guy's both films were madness, chaos and humour filled crime comedy thrillers while Vaughn's film is more about characters and twists and turns in plot and is more hefty than Guy's movies. There's the same morbid sense of black humour, although
Layer Cake is more character driven and less gruesome than the earlier
productions. And, for pure shock value, it contains a "didn't see that one
coming" moment unlike anything in either of Ritchie's ventures into this
genre.
In the beginning of the film, it has been shown that life is very kind and grand for nameless protagonist (lets name him as Mr. XXXX) of the story played by Daniel Craig who is a middle man in drug dealing business in Great Britain. He follows very simple but basic rules in such line of business to be on safer side. Like many of such drug dealers, he is also leading a double life in public which helps him to convert his black money into white.
When he decides to leave this business as he has accumulated much wealth and he is no longer interested in taking further risks inherited in drug dealing profession, he has been summoned by his boss Jimmy Price (played by Kenneth Cranham) to finish two important assignments which are critical for him - one is to find daughter of his old associate and friend Eddie Temple (played by Michael Gambon) who is now a drug addict and leading a nomad life with her black boyfriend, the second task is to crack and finalize the drug deal with a mad and untrustworthy drug dealer Duke (played by Jamie Foreman). Mr. XXXX has two associates Gene and Morty (played by Colm Meaney and George Harris respectively) who also work for Jimmy Price.
Rest of the story has been shown as how Mr. XXXX gets entangled in these two assignments and various twists and turns in plot which ultimately puts his life under threat but real treat in this movie is to watch out for how he came up and encountered the dangers and situations (successfully or unsuccessfully - that I will not reveal at this moment).
Layer Cake's greatest virtue is that it's a lot of fun - if you like this sort of movie. It's a little bleak, a little twisted, a little gory, and a lot funny. The humour is dead-pan, much like in Lock and Snatch. Its unselfconscious nature is what allows it to work. Vaughn, working from a script by J.J. Connolly (who based it on his novel of the same name), never goes for the easy laugh. This is, after all, an action/drama, not a comedy, and that's one of the reasons its wry, cynical observations provoke smiles and chuckles.
Unlike Guy's movies, Layer Cake takes the time to develop the protagonist,
making him more civilized than one might expect from a drug dealer. He is urbane
and has sophisticated tastes. He doesn't like guns, although will use one if
pressed. He's attracted to a girl (Sienna Miller) he meets at a club, but sex
isn't the only thing on his mind. And he resents being placed in a situation
where pain is the likely outcome. He narrates the film with a smart internal
monologue that gives us insight into the intricacies of his dangerous trade. He
doesn't have a heart of gold, but he's no traditional blackguard. Most
importantly, he's interesting, which often isn't the case with leading men in
this sort of genre flick.
I will recommend you to watch this very engaging movie if you enjoyed watching Lock Stock ... and Snatch !
Happy MovieWatching !!
Official Trailer
When he decides to leave this business as he has accumulated much wealth and he is no longer interested in taking further risks inherited in drug dealing profession, he has been summoned by his boss Jimmy Price (played by Kenneth Cranham) to finish two important assignments which are critical for him - one is to find daughter of his old associate and friend Eddie Temple (played by Michael Gambon) who is now a drug addict and leading a nomad life with her black boyfriend, the second task is to crack and finalize the drug deal with a mad and untrustworthy drug dealer Duke (played by Jamie Foreman). Mr. XXXX has two associates Gene and Morty (played by Colm Meaney and George Harris respectively) who also work for Jimmy Price.
Rest of the story has been shown as how Mr. XXXX gets entangled in these two assignments and various twists and turns in plot which ultimately puts his life under threat but real treat in this movie is to watch out for how he came up and encountered the dangers and situations (successfully or unsuccessfully - that I will not reveal at this moment).
Layer Cake's greatest virtue is that it's a lot of fun - if you like this sort of movie. It's a little bleak, a little twisted, a little gory, and a lot funny. The humour is dead-pan, much like in Lock and Snatch. Its unselfconscious nature is what allows it to work. Vaughn, working from a script by J.J. Connolly (who based it on his novel of the same name), never goes for the easy laugh. This is, after all, an action/drama, not a comedy, and that's one of the reasons its wry, cynical observations provoke smiles and chuckles.
I will recommend you to watch this very engaging movie if you enjoyed watching Lock Stock ... and Snatch !
Happy MovieWatching !!
Official Trailer
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