Layer Cake Review
by Mark R. Leeper (mleeper AT optonline DOT net)June 29th, 2005
LAYER CAKE
(a film review by Mark R. Leeper)
CAPSULE: LAYER CAKE is a violent but intelligent crime film from the United Kingdom. The unnamed main character has his own philosophy of how to stay alive and profit from the cocaine trade. In the course of a few days, his philosophy will be put to the test as he is involved in a totally confusing set of schemes that just keep getting bigger and more convoluted. In addition to the many layers, the story has some serious violence and many dead bodies. Just following what is going on is a big job, but the film has its rewards. Rating: +2 (-4 to +4) or 7/10
British crime thrillers tend to be crisp, violent, and totally engaging. Films like THE LONG GOOD FRIDAY; GET CARTER; LOCK, STOCK, AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS; THE KRAYS; SEXY BEAST; and the excellent but little-known MR IN-BETWEEN are some of the best of their genre anywhere. For LAYER CAKE, J. J. Connolly adapts his own novel of the same title to the screen. At the beginning of this film the unsuspecting viewer is standing on a whole pile of rugs and should be prepared to have them one at a time pulled out from under him.
The main character of LAYER CAKE is never named, so I will call him Craig since he is played by Daniel Craig. Craig is temporarily in the cocaine business and tells his philosophy of how to succeed and stay alive. Simply put, he says to be a straight arrow, or as straight as one can be in the cocaine business. He plays the game prudent, honest, careful, conservative, and simple. He makes no person his victim and makes no man his enemy. His goal is to make a chunk of money quickly and then to get out of the business without looking back. Unfortunately he must leave this well-ordered life when his boss's boss, Jimmy Price (Kenneth Cranham), asks Craig to take on assignment somewhat out of his line. He is to find the missing runaway daughter of criminal ganglord Eddie Temple (Michael Gambon). Also he is to try to get hold of a missing haul of one million ecstasy tablets. Craig hates to leave behind his plan for living, but he does not want to make enemies either.
Telling much more would damage the reader's enjoyment of the film.
The writing of the script is like a golf ball, hard and taut with lots that is tightly wound, dangerous, and unpredictable just below the surface. The scenes with plot twists are edited to make the surprises all the more shocking. When the plot turns it is usually a hairpin turn. The film is full of weird low-lifes, strange in different ways. Everybody has a past that affects their present in unexpected ways. That is one thing that keeps the film going. People keep doing things that make no sense until more of the story is known. Craig has a bewildering mess to navigate while he is trying to stay alive. The film is hard to follow and probably will be the subject of countless conversations over coffee after the movie is over. The accents and unfamiliar slang do not make the film any more understandable to Yanks.
Matthew Vaughn is directing for the first time, though he has produced films like LOCK, STOCK, AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS. Daniel Craig may be familiar as Paul Newman's trouble-making son in ROAD TO PERDITION or as Sylvia Plath's philandering husband in SYLVIA. This gangster may be the most scrupulous character I have seen him play. For a while he was even named as a possible candidate for the role of James Bond in the upcoming CASINO ROYALE. Michael Gambon, an all-purpose character actor and who is always excellent, plays a voluble but enigmatic crime lord.
LAYER CAKE will be for some very hard to follow, but the atmosphere makes it all worthwhile. A fun film for fans of the British gangster genre. I rate it a +2 on the -4 to +4 scale or 7/10. (By the way, please do not write me with questions of what actually happened in this one. I have seen it only *once*. I hope it will be clearer on the second viewing.)
Mark R. Leeper
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Copyright 2005 Mark R. Leeper
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
