I've seen things, I've seen them with my eyes, I've seen things, they're often in disguise!
I've seen things, I've seen them with my eyes, I've seen things, they're often in disguise!
Member since:06.10.2004
Reviews:1
I enjoyed Lock, Stock... when it first came out - there hadn't been a genuine hit Brit gangster film since the excellent The Long Good Friday at the start of the 80's. True there were some dodgy effects because of it - Circus anyone? - but it's official follow-up Snatch proved to be good fun - loud, quotable and unashamedly over-stylised. But the numerous bad rip-offs drummed the genre into a (by then) very welcome grave. So when it was announced the guy who produced Lock, Stock... and Snatch was directing a new British gangster film I can't say I wet myself with glee. But the good reviews across the board sparked my interest, as did the equally intriguing/infuriating ad campaign so I went in cautiously optimisitc...
The plot concerns an unnamed drug dealer (Daniel Craig) who, having played the game well (he claims he's just a business man who's commodities happen to be drugs) has built up a nice nest egg. However, as always seems to be the case, his plans for retirement are scuppered by one last job - well, two, both set by his supplier. Not only is he to track down a crime kingpin's missing daughter but he has a batch of one million ecstacy pills to shift.
Of course there are many, many complications - the pills have been ripped off a very powerful dealer in Amsterdam who's sending someone over to find the pills and the people responsible. And the missing girl's story has other layers to it. And so our dealer finds himself helpless in a situation seemingly way
over his head and every attempt he makes to improve it just seems to make things ten times worse. As past events collide with present troublem future plans are left in ruins and secrets, alliances and horrible hometruths are revealed leaving our dealer facing death or ruin from every corner, through no fault of his own.
So far, so formulaic sounding. But the narrative is surprisingly solid - a tightly-wound mixture of twists and turns, all centred around a very real, very believable main character. Because you can believe in this guy's drives, his motivations, it makes the seemingly obvious plot easier to take and much easier to get involved in. And perhaps the above synopsis isn't fair to the film - it's certainly stripped of the meat of the film, simply because I feel it would be unfair to detail too much of the film. It's script is one of it's strongest factors and it takes the seen-it-all-before plotline and moulds it into something surprising and unpredictable.
Layer Cake takes itself a bit more seriously than Lock, Stock... and co which helps us relate more to the characters. That's not to say the film is po-faced: there's a lot of humour here, especially in the opening segment and the OTT antics of wannabe gangster The Duke. And, of course, liberal use of swear words delivered in a cockney voice always makes for easy laughs ("You bunch of sloppy wan-kahs!"). But the film manages to convey real emotions through an excellent use of scripting, nicely-rendered characters and music. A scene using Duran Duran's 'Ordinary World' is absolutely stunning - a violent yet oddly moving and uneasy moment in the film that seems to perfectly sum up the horror and human waste this business invokes.
The scene is brilliantly directed - this is no hack attempting to point a camera for the sake of it. Matthew Vaughn has not simply taken this job as an easy option. His direction is always solid, often surprisingly stunning. Yes, it's stylised but the difference between this and lesser efforts is that it's also stylish. The stylisings of the scenes work. His eye for visuals shows a real understanding of the film's script and it's emotional content. He evokes the best out of every written scene. This does not bear the hallmarks of a first-time director - this shows someone with a genuine talent. The opening fantasy of drugs being sold openly; the scene with our dealer getting drunk alone and the sudden cut to the next morning; the Ordinary World scene... Fromt his evidence perhaps Vaughn and Ritchie should have swapped places on the earlier films.
But it's not just Vaughn bringing this film to life. The film hangs itself on the performance of Craig as the dealer. Not your obvious flash gangster, Craig manages to convey a genuine sense of frustration, confusion and determination as the guy finding himself in way too deep and unable to do anything about it. He's not the type of guy to sit around thinking up a wild plan like the boys in Lock, Stock..., he has to deal with it realistically and Craig makes the character human. We may not be able to relate to his situation but we can relate to the emotions he's going through. Craig deserves to find success from this film - for all of Vaughn's visual tricks this film could still have fallen flat without a strong actor to centre it around. Craig is more than up to the job.
The rest of the cast fit their characters perfectly with Colm Meaney proving good support and a perma-tanned Michael Gambon turning up in full cockney mode. Even the smaller roles seem to fit the movie like a glove with everyone having a handle on their character. And Dexter Fletcher pops up for a pleasing cameo (as does fellow Lock, Stock... allumni Jason Fleyming, but blink and you'll miss him).
If the movie has any flaws it's with a couple of subplots not adding much to the overall narrative - the Sienna Miller storyline could have been left out even if it does help nudge events along slightly. Likewise a subplot about the past histories of some characters seems a bit out of place but manages to entertain and shock in equal measures and does prove to be an emotional core for some of the tangents the film finds itself on. The one huge flaw in the film though comes right at the very end in a final punchline that seems to clash with the tone of the rest of the film - taking it over the line slightly. Aiming for ironic tragedy it instead leaves us with a feeling of "Well was that really needed?".
Layer Cake is a very pleasant surprise - an intelligent, grown-up British crime film with a visual flair and some brilliant acting. Some may look down their noses at it based on the sort of film it is but it's their loss. No British crime film will ever be as good as The Long Good Friday but Layer Cake does a good job at taking the genre and proving it can still be used for good. But let's hope to God this doesn't inspire Rancid Aluminium II...
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 1957 - Drama - Director: Leo McCarey - Original Language: English - Classification: Universal - Starring: Cathleen Nesbitt, Deborah Kerr, Cary Grant, Richard Denning, Neva Patterson, Fortunio Bonanova
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
As its title suggests,Layer Cakeis a crime thriller that cuts into several levels of its ... more
treacherous criminal underworld. The title is actually one character's definition of the drug-trade hierarchy, but it's also an apt metaphor for the separate layer...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
As its title suggests,Layer Cakeis a crime thriller that cuts into several levels of its ... more
treacherous criminal underworld. The title is actually one character's definition of the drug-trade hierarchy, but it's also an apt metaphor for the separate layer...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
A successful drug dealer is just about to retire from the industry when he finds that his ... more
ill-gotten gains begin dwindling as his legacy crumbles around him. Based on J.J. Connelly's London crime novel of the same name the producer of 'Lock Stock And...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
From the producer of Snatch, Matthew Vaughn makes his directorial debut in the stylish ... more
crime thriller Layer Cake. Based upon J.J. Connolly's London crime novel, 'Layer Cake' is about a successful cocaine dealer (Daniel Craig) who has earned a respected...
Advantages: Excellent cast and crew that makes it a very real movie. Not in the slapstick Cockney Geezer mould of Snatch and Lock Stock Disadvantages: A little dark in places that a few people might find disturbing, slows down a little now and again but not majorly
Andy.mack 20.03.2005 ·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Layer Cake (DVD)
Advantages: Excellent cast and crew that makes it a very real movie. Not in the slapstick Cockney Geezer mould of Snatch and Lock Stock Disadvantages: A little dark in places that a few people might find disturbing, slows down a little now and again but not majorly
Andy.mack 20.03.2005 ·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Layer Cake (DVD)
![Layer Cake [DVD] [2004]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78505598.jpg "Layer Cake [DVD] [2004]")
exceptional by (20%):
very helpful by (78%):
helpful by (3%):
