Layer Cake Movie
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Storyline
TAGLINES PLOT SUMMARY
A successful cocaine dealer, who has earned a respected place among England's Mafia elite, plans an early retirement from the business. However, big boss Jimmy Price hands down a tough assignment: find Charlotte Ryder, the missing rich princess daughter of Jimmy's old pal Edward, a powerful construction business player and gossip papers socialite. Complicating matters are two million pounds' worth of Grade A ecstasy, a brutal neo-Nazi sect and a whole series of double crossings. The title "LAYER CAKE" refers to the layers or levels anyone in business goes through in rising to the top. What is revealed is a modern underworld where the rules have changed. There are no 'codes', or 'families' and respect lasts as long as a line. Not knowing who he can trust, he has to use all his 'savvy', 'telling' and skills which make him one of the best, to escape his own. The ultimate last job, a love interest called Tammy, and an international drug ring threaten to draw him back into the 'cake mix'. But, time is running out and the penalty will endure a lifetime..
| Daniel Craig | XXXX |
| Tom Hardy | Clarkie |
| Jamie Foreman | Duke |
| Sally Hawkins | Slasher |
| Burn Gorman | Gazza |
| George Harris | Morty |
| Tamer Hassan | Terry |
| Colm Meaney | Gene |
| Marcel Iures | Slavo |
| Francis Magee | Paul the Boatman |
| Dimitri Andreas | Angelo |
| Kenneth Cranham | Jimmy Price |
| Garry Tubbs | Brian |
| Nathalie Lunghi | Charlie |
| Marvin Benoit | Kinky |
| Matthew Vaughn |
7.40 out of 10 (15400 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Well done, polished dialogue; good delivery
posted on 16 Aug 2009Layer Cake runs a fairly brisk hour and forty some odd minutes. It's well paced and has great narration. The lead character played by Daniel Craig (aka the next/future James Bond) is interesting as sort of someone obviously greedy but smart enough to know he's in the wrong business. There's an excellent mixture of fear in his character's actions/dialogue which is well placed earning believability. His adventure is a good one. The supporting cast, on the whole English produce polished snappy dialogue with cool, collected energy. The editing is fast paced, but thankfully the director has chosen a fairly linear storyline. Some movies these days try to push the novelty too far in messing with time sequencing to where its a distraction. This movie does not. I thought the movie was especially strong in the beginning to draw interest. The only 2 Nit-picks for me were the very ending which was a bit too much and the fact that there is perhaps a bit too many characters for the 100 min or so to support. These of course are minor. Layer Cake is a polished well done movie with a good lead character definitely worth a look.
A new type of movie
posted on 14 Aug 2009Much like modernism in literature formed as a reaction to romanticism, Layer Cake was written as reaction to terrible films. Firstly, Layer Cake is superbly directed, showing some of the more cinematic, less clichéd sides of Britain, and brilliantly acted by a host of incredible British actors. However, where Layer Cake truly shines is in its writing. No, it may not be the witty dialogue of Richie or Tarantino and the plot may not be a complex web of faulty info etc. etc. What Layer Cake does is that it makes sure that the audience has no way of knowing what will happen next. In some many scenes I was ready for one thing, seeing as it is the norm in gangster movies, and what I received was something far different. It is unique. For example, Sienna Miller is featured in the film solely for one scene and the ending. There is a teasing scene where she shows up for no reason to have sex with Daniel Craig. At this point I was thinking 'great, this is just falling into action movie style.' How wrong I was. The director gives us just enough so that we are very ready for a hot sex scene when...boom, Craig is knocked out and dragged away by people who have nothing to do with Miller. THIS DOESN'T HAPPEN IN FILMS! Every single person in the room collectively screamed 'NO!' at the screen when this happened. Do not expect anything. Another example: just after coitus interruptus, Craig comes face to face with Michael Gambon, in a role slightly different than the lovable Dumbledore. In this scene, Gambon has to give a great deal of exposition in a classic monologue starting with some philosophical metaphor that makes the audience go 'oh...that's clever.' This technique was really first capitalized fully by Tarantino and has been copied every time since. As the speech began I thought 'another boring speech.' WRONG. Immediately as Gambon asks Craig if he knows what a remora fish is, Craig answers 'YES'. Impossible! So anybody watching who is unfortunate enough not to know what a remora fish is, is left in the dark. This is a small example, but I noticed it immediately and it was jarring, to say the least.Finally, the movie ends. Craig wins, gets the girl, gets the money, gets the power, kills the baddies, etc. etc. etc. Yet another happy gangster ending...WRONG. Boom, out of nowhere he gets shot...and dies. You never even know his name. Layer Cake is a tornado of logic, excitement, entertainment and Brits, a perfect recipe for such a modest delicacy. Tell everyone you know to watch this movie. It is incredible.
Life is what happens when you make other plans
posted on 14 Aug 2009You think you are going one way and you are so cool about it. You have everything together and are ready to make your move. Then, BAM! Life throws you a curve ball.Daniel Craig, in a pre-James Bond adventure was ready to retire, but that "one more job" came up. In the crazy world he lived in, that could be a nightmare - and it was Craig was cool and methodical in his quest for the escape, but things just kept going haywire.But, he managed to tie everything up in a neat little package and grabbed the girl (the gorgeous Sienna Miller - What WERE you thinking, Jude?) to ride off into the sunset. Well, the sun set and he....We din't get to see enough Sienna Miller, but first-time director Matthew Vaughn brings her back in his next film. Craig is off to Bonddom. If he is half as good as he was here, then he should do well.
Decent British gangster flick from a poor man's Guy Ritchie
posted on 27 Jul 2009It didn't surprise me that director Matthew Vaughan was a producer of both "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" and "Snatch". This film covers much of the same ground, though with a slightly different approach and less panache. Nevertheless, it is a fairly nifty little crime flick likely to be appreciated by fans of the above-mentioned films.Vaughan's approaches are somewhat similar to Guy Ritchie in that they both toy with narrative structure and inventive camera-work. However, Vaughan is unfortunately not as successful as Ritchie in either area. Consequently, the film has a bit of a convoluted feel as we follow the story's zig-zagging path to its conclusion.The acting is decent with Daniel Craig in the spotlight portraying a nameless cocaine dealer on the verge of retirement (there's always one last job, isn't there?). The rest of the cast is probably more familiar to Brits and anglophiles. On the whole, the performances are convincing though not particularly notable.As stated previously, the storyline is somewhat convoluted, which seems a combined fault of the screenwriter and the director. Nevertheless, it is a fairly engaging story which is told with a certain amount of verve. While many of the techniques employed by Vaughan are mere shadows of better work by other directors the complete package is not unattractive.So, for those who enjoy movies about the exploits of gangster lowlifes this is an easy recommendation, particularly if you are fond of the films of Guy Ritchie. As for others, your mileage may vary.
Real life gangsters
posted on 27 Jun 2009Matthew Vaughn, instead of following the same formula that "Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels" did with its flashy editing sequences and ultra stereotyped accents, delivers a film that is intelligent and real. Vaughn, obviously a talented director, is able to show the anxiety of being a day-to-day gangster as well as the uncertainty that goes along with the job. Guy Ritchie's films had little substance to go along with their abundant style. I felt that the films were too "cute" with their dialog and direction. "Layer Cake" on the other hand, delivers something that is rare for a movie these days: equal amounts of substance to make the movie interesting as well as an abundance of style to make it vastly entertaining.
To clever by half.
posted on 19 Jun 2009Yuppie drug dealer XXXX believes he can walk away with his ill-gotten gains but his supplier has some tasks for him to perform. Unsurprisingly enough nothing is what it seems and soon XXXX is running around like a blue-arsed fly trying to keep a variety of plates in the air as Serbian drug-lords, East End crime barons, Scouse pushers and a variety of other low lifes threaten to disrupt his equilibrium. Even with the endless narration it's all a bit much to keep track of, but the film is rescued by fine ensemble acting from a dream cast. Sadly none if it is very convincing and as the mayhem reaches its climax you realise why real criminals don't behave like this: they'd be too busy robbing, murdering and double-crossing each other to get any crimes done and in six months they'd all be dead. This is a film where everyone's trying to be too clever, both characters and director, and it's a shame because the ingredients are there for a splendid movie.Still it's easy to see from this why Craig got the Bond role and he could do well to bring a bit more of XXXX to it.
pretentious rubbish
posted on 17 Jun 2009How many cool overhead shots can we get in 1 film? There is no story at all in this film, at least the story of the film is just reported and you seldom see the film moving forward through action, and I do not mean action interms of an 'action film. I mean character action. The direction across the board seems to be 'just snarl' and act tough. Not one of these so called gangsters is either believable. Their character study seems to have been just to look at other snarly gangster movies. Daniel Craig is boring in good looking lead parts, and should stick to the brilliant character parts he has done in the past. Matthew Vaughn wouldn't have a clue how to direct actors, and Sienna Miller's part could so easily have been cut, saying 'fanny' in a tarty scraggy voice does not an actor make. bbbbooooorrrrrriiiiiiinnnnnngggggggg
Multi-layered treat
posted on 13 Jun 2009Layer Cake surprised me with its originality and complexity. I knew nothing of it going in except that the director had previously been involved in a couple films that I wasn't particularly interested in. It first lured me in as a potboiler, then hooked me as the layers began to be revealed. What transpired could have been the intended sequel to Trainspotting. And I mean that as the highest complement. While several films of the past few years showed a studied Trainspotting influence, they lacked originality (they were mostly Hollywood-produced American productions). But this, British one, was different. There's no point in trying to reiterate the plot; it would be one spoiler after another. Just see it if you can handle R-rated sex, drugs, and violence; don't if you can't, or if you don't want to think too much.
Some clever moments, but ultimately disappointing
posted on 05 Jun 2009Yes, this is a crime thriller with many twists and turns, but a lot of gratuitous violence and one twist and turn too many knocked me out of its orbit. Essentially it's a very standard formula movie. The bad guys keep doing each other in and you can see the irony of the end coming from a long distance. The performances are well done, but I found myself caring very little about these hard nosed criminals. Very little or no feminine energy in the film, and what feminine energy there is is a parody of femaleness. ("Some enchanted evening...you may see a stranger...") And damn, some of those British accents are hard to follow. I kept thinking subtitles would be appropriate in several places.
Great new gangster movie
posted on 01 Jun 2009Being a fan of gangster movies and eager to see what the new James Bond is like I saw Layer Cake and it blew my expectations away. It is a great new gangster movie, exciting, suspenseful and funny.Daniel Craig does a great job as his unnamed character. George Harris and Colm Meaney who play his friends and business partners are great as well. The story is original and has plenty of great twists. I will be looking for the novel it's based on. Matthew Vaughn does a great job directing. The movie always looks very cool and stylish.It will definitely be liked by fans of the genre and will probably appeal to anybody else too. It brings gangster movies to a whole new level. Highly recommended.
Excellent!
posted on 26 May 2009I'm a huge fan of the first two films from these people and needless to say they didn't disappoint from the third. i highly recommend this film to anyone who's a fan as it has an excellent storyline and good characters.Not as much violence as i expected and as normal the storyline ended up having each character involved with each other and also explains some of the history behind each person, didn't realize that the lead character had not had a name through the film until the last few minutes and that the twist at the end was certainly unexpected.Comedy of the film was good and also situated well in the story line and certainly made me laugh, even now just thinking about it.
Welcome to the Layer Cake son
posted on 06 May 2009MAJOR SPOILERSAt last we have a new top notch serious gangster film. Since the success of Lock Stock and Snatch there hasn't been a top quality Brit gangster flick (Gangster No1came close). Layer Cake has now joined the great Brit gangster flicks like the Long Good Friday and Get Carter. The story's quality well what can I say? It's complexities really give the film an appealing nature and really gives you something to think about. No Brit film has done that since the Long Good Friday. The story itself follows highly successful drug dealer X who isn't your conventional cockney loudmouth out to make a name for himself, X is a smooth intelligent business man who knows when it's time leave the drugs world at the right time. X has made his money and sets out to retire on his hefty earnings until his boss Jimmy Price sets him one last task, find Charlotte Temple the daughter of Jimmy's colleague Eddie Temple a very successful crook and businessman. Jimmy also hands X a job more in line with is his profession which involves sealing an ecstasy deal with a character known as the Duke. The ecstasy involved becomes the main ingredient of a situation known as the layer cake in which a love interest called Tammy, a powerful Serbian syndicate and double crossing and betrayals are all thrown into the mix in what turns into a story which will keep you guessing till the very end, an ending that you won't see coming.The soundtrack is another integral part of the film's story it really sets out the mood of the characters and the score itself is very unique for a gangster film. With Lock Stock and Snatch it was indie music that ruled the scene but with Layer Cake you have indie, pop, dance and opera which really adds an emotion sense to the film.The Cast have really made a 1st class job. Daniel Craig shows he can be a brilliant lead after stealing the show in the star studded Road To Perdition. Meaney, Cranham and Gambon all give performances you would expect from actors of their quality and experience. The largely unknown under-cast of Jamie Foreman, George Harris, Tamer Hassan, Dexter Fletcher (of Lock Stock fame) and up and coming star Sienna Miller really prove their merits as well.Overall this film reminds of a traditional gangster film, don't get me wrong I love Lock Stock and Snatch but it's great to see a film with a real complexity and serious edge to it. I strongly urge you to go and see this film it's a real message of the do's and don't and the highs and lows of the drug world and most importantly the situation you will end up in.
Good First Attempt, Better Luck Next Time
posted on 22 Apr 2009I'l keep it quick I liked this film but the thing i found annoying was the times when matthew flipped sequence edited like Ritchie does in snatch for example with the lighting of the cigar to one being smoked this was like the opening sequence in Snatch with the stone. I thought that in interviews he said it was simple and not an mtv video style film. I thought he would had have used or tried his own style, but first attempts so better luck next time.Good PointsIn my opinion the duke and his cousin or relative are funny as some people are like that for example in the club where he shouts out about dealing and chatting on about nothing whilst high on sniff then the song You Got The Love plays and all goes silent as she says'sometimes i feel like saying lord i just don't care' as the guy goes on about his connections, good use of zoom therei found this good as everyone has had a person in a club go on about nothing while high and felt the same.
Worse and better...........
posted on 08 Apr 2009There is an old saying that: "People are worse and better than you can ever imagine". Layer Cake works in that it sets out to portray the "Champions League" of the drug world, and succeeds. Other than a higher than normal body count, it captures the very essence of the subject. With the possible exception of the part and story line of Eddie (Michael Gambon), the atmosphere the film creates is horribly accurate - although the truth is worse and better, etc.Perhaps the point at which it comes closest to reality are the few seconds filmed outside the Regency Cafe - when XXXX finds himself in a situation which is not only out of control, but also where he is suddenly alone and in a great deal of trouble. The virtual 360 degree camera pan here is amazingly effective - and combined with the final cords of Duran Duran's "Ordinary World" (!) it captures the feeling of isolation perfectly.Indeed, the beating inside the Cafe must also rate as one of the best uses of a sound track in any film. Combined with the final smeared camera lens effect shot from the floor, the effect is chilling.
Cant believe how great this actually is...
posted on 31 Mar 2009This film was such a surprise! I actually didn't get to it at the cinema but after a friend of mine saw it on DVD and loved it, I had no hesitation in buying it and I'm so glad I did.The characters are all perfect - believable without being over the top or dull.There is no wasted space, every scene contributing to the overall film essence.The locations, filming, lighting, music are all done beautifully.In fact only in one scene is there a perhaps unnecessary quick widepan shot - everything else is paced to match the scene it is based in.I wouldn't say you'd love this if you loved Lock stock, snatch et al but rather if you found the new wave of British gangster flicks a bit hard to warm to, liking "cake" first may well give you the enthusiasm to revisit such past efforts.Matthew Vaughan has done something wonderful and no mistake!
Best British gangster film since Lock, Stock.
posted on 11 Mar 2009Over the last ten years British cinemas have shown many gangster films. Some have been good (Snatch) but some have been bad, very bad (Essex Boys). Guy Ritchie's (Mr. Madonna) Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels started a trend of British gangster films back in 1998 but since then most of the other offerings have been average at best.This is where Layer Cake is different. Matthew Vaughn's film is the best gangster movie I have seen in the last five years. It has reinvented the genre, a genre that seemed to have gone the way of other late 90's trends like garage music and Manchester United winning trophies. It focuses on 'XXXX' (Daniel Craig), a drug-dealer who sees himself more as a businessman than a gangster. Just when he thinks he is retiring from the criminal underworld, he is pulled back in for one last job.The acting in this film has often been called wooden but I tend to disagree. Craig, among others, puts in a good performance and there are excellent performances from Colm Meaney, Michael Gambon and Dexter Fletcher ('Soap' from Lock, Stock).Overall the film is a good critique of the gangster milieu but is expressed in a satisfyingly subtle way. Don't expect the witty one-liners of Snatch but do expect gritty realism and an intelligent dialogue.
A Good British Gangster Flick
posted on 25 Feb 2009And yes that is a GENRE whether you like it or not. My favorite is Sexy Beast but I put this near that very good film not equal or above.I saw it yesterday. Great film - still haven't finished the book but wish that some narrative was included but nevertheless I enjoyed myself. Great performances and a good deliverance of a non-linear story. Definitely was caught off guard a few times in a good way.Now that he is doing X-Men 3 I have some higher hopes for that franchise. I always have a hard time Colm Meany not portraying his Star Trek: O'Brien. I definitely recommend this for people who are fans of the gengre when it is done well.
"I'm a businessman whose commodity happens to be cocaine"
posted on 13 Feb 2009Densely layered just like a layer cake, this new Daniel Craig film has so many twists and turns, with extraneous characters appearing and then disappearing, and a narrative that hurriedly switches backwards and forwards in time, that most viewers will probably be left absolutely giddy from the experience.Admittedly, Layer Cake won't be everyone's cup of tea. The serpentine plot is often hard to follow, but the slick, pulsating production design combined with the raw and often brutal look at the shady underworld of drug dealing, more than makes up for the occasionally muddled narrative.Layer Cake is all about the evolution of a businessman into a gangster, assassin, and double-crosser - a descent that comes as a surprise only to him. The sexy Daniel Craig is perfectly cast as a confident, cock-sure ecstasy dealer, who in an effort to apply solid business principles, treats his trade and as some kind of legitimate commercial practice.As the film opens, Craig is explaining his philosophy in a voice over narrative - "you keep a low profile, work with people you know, and don't get greedy." He also announces his attention to retire from the trade, having made enough money from the sale of cocaine and other illegal substances to live comfortably for the rest of his life.But just as he's visiting his bent accountant to have the profits of his last sale transferred into an anonymous bank account, his boss, Jimmy Price (Kenneth Cranham), gives him one last assignment. A buyer needs to be found for a huge consignment of Ecstasy pills that have been stolen from a tulip farm in Amsterdam.Jimmy also wants him to track down the drug addicted, runaway daughter of his friend and corrupt business partner, Eddie Temple (Michael Gambon). Of course, both assignments are setups. Everyone wants to get their hands on the stolen pills, particularly the dealer, a loud-mouthed crook known as the Duke (Jamie Foreman), and their rightful owner, a sociopathic Serb called Slavo (Marcel Iures).Helped by his trusted colleagues, Gene (Colm Meaney) and Morty (George Harris), our anonymous hero must navigate this shady world where no one is as they seem and where everyone is constantly trying to outwit and double-cross each other. There's not much honor among these thieves here, and even those whom our hero thinks are his friends, turn out to be his dreaded enemies.It's certainly Craig's inimitable talents as an actor that keep this threads of the story hanging together, and he gives his character a bluster and conceit that eventually turns into an awkward shuffle once he realizes he's in over his head. But kudos must also go to first time director Matthew Vaughn, who does a good job keeping this complex film moving forward despite its labyrinthine plot structure.Most of the action is seen and told through the perspective of Craig's nameless character, and there are numerous quickly edited flashbacks and shifting points of view, which emphasize the non-linear aspect of the story. A surprise ending will probably leave most viewers quite shocked, but perhaps it's best not to think too much how it fits into the rest of the story, as you'll probably find yourself getting confused.Vaughn also makes the most of the London locales, shooting scenes in posh mansions, crack houses, construction sites along the Canary Warf, picturesque parks along the Thames River, and atop skyscrapers in London's financial district. Viewers who have given up following the story can sit back and enjoy the wonderful views of one of the world's greatest cities. Mike Leonard August 05.
Superbly Arranged Gangster Flick
posted on 09 Feb 2009THis movie is just like snatch and lock, stock, and two smoking barrels. These three movies should be in a movie box set or something to satisfy the public. Layer cake is a greatly acted movie but what I was most impressed with was the wide variety of cinematography. It was amazing. The only reason I am giving this movie 9 stars is because of the ending. Some people would argue the it is very original because most movies do not end like that. I didn't like the fact, that all this happens and it just ends so subtle. The movie was sweet besides the ending.~PQ~
WOW...amazing film
posted on 26 Aug 2009This was one of the best films of the British crime genre I have seen, when I saw the trailer I expected a "lock,stock" copy however what I saw was a far more serious film. The opening scene took me by surprise and was cleverly put together. It was directed well and some scenes took my breath away, I'm not gonna give anything away though :D Gene the main character is played well.For a film with only a £4 million budget, this is impressive. The absence of special effects (bar the opening scene) made the film far more realistic, the camera-work was impressive enough.See this movie If you like fast paced action movies, where you have to think a little.