Layer Cake (2004)

★ 6.9 1h 45m 2,340 votes IMDb
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When a seemingly straight-forward drug deal goes awry, XXXX has to break his die-hard rules and turn up the heat, not only to outwit the old regime and come out on top, but to save his own skin...

Layer Cake

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Cast

Daniel Craig
Daniel Craig as XXXX Age 58 · Chester, Cheshire, England, UK Daniel Wroughton Craig (born March 2, 1968) is an English actor. He gained international fame by playing the fictional secret agent James Bond for five installments in the film series: Casino Royale (...
Sienna Miller
Sienna Miller as Tammy Age 44 · New York City, New York, USA Sienna Rosie Diana Miller (born December 28, 1981) is an American-born English actress. Born in New York City and raised in London, she began her career as a photography model, appearing in the pages...
Tom Hardy
Tom Hardy as Clarkie Age 48 · Hammersmith, London, England, UK Edward Thomas Hardy CBE (born 15 September 1977) is an English actor, producer, writer and former model. After studying acting at the Drama Centre London, he made his film debut in Ridley Scott's Blac...
Colm Meaney
Colm Meaney as Gene Age 72 · Dublin, Ireland Colm J. Meaney (born May 30, 1953) is an Irish actor. He is widely known for playing Chief Miles O'Brien in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
George Harris
George Harris as Morty Age 76 · Grenada, West Indies George William Harris (born 20 October 1949) is a British actor of film, stage, television, radio and musical theatre. His notable roles include Kingsley Shacklebolt in Harry Potter and the Order of t...
Sally Hawkins
Sally Hawkins as Slasher Age 49 · London, England, UK Sally Cecilia Hawkins (born 27 April 1976) is an English actress who began her career on stage and then moved into film. She has received several awards, including a Golden Globe Award, and nomination...

Audience Reviews

John Chard 9/10 Apr 27, 2015
I'm not a gangster, just a businessman. And my commodity happens to be cocaine.

With a considerable amount of cash saved from his, ahem, dealings. A London drug dealer is all set to retire abroad and start a new life. However his mob boss Jimmy Price has two jobs for him to do immediately...

Layer Cake is directed by Matthew Vaughn. Vaughn is more well known as Guy Ritchie's producer on his early British gangster genre forays. Suffice to say he had some insight into what made those films {Snatch et al} hugely popular with the watching British public. How pleasing it is then to say that Vaughn, by showing restraint and an unfussy approach, has crafted a film that's more than equal to the best of Britain gangster faves, and actually sets new parameters for toning a film. By focusing more on mood and atmosphere over bombastic scenarios, Vaughn, aided by a superlative Daniel Craig as the nameless dealer, lifts the film above its conventional plot arc. In what could have been a standard tale of a man doing one last job before going straight, we, along with Craig, find that all roads are blocked, it's as if there is some higher force at work here.

Layer Cake also scores high for its more easy on the eye filming of London, this is no destitute capital where tower blocks loom like monsters over the characters. This London is thriving, vim and vitality, the place to be, seediness is far from the ebullient crowd. Ben Davis' photography perfectly complimenting the engrossing score from Lisa Gerrard & Ilan Eshkeri, both of which serve to make London an extra character in the story. The film however is not perfect, at 105 minutes it's actually too short, something that only becomes apparent when all the plot strands come crashing together in a rushed last quarter. Yet in spite of that failing, the ending delivers a jolt to the system, to crown, what to me at least, is one of Britain's finest and tidiest gangster offerings. 9/10
r96sk 10/10 May 25, 2024
Absolutely tremendous!

I haven't got much <em>(edit: five paragraphs later...)</em> to say about <em>'Layer Cake'</em>, but that's only because it's simply one of those movies that is undeniably outstanding, to the point it's plain and simple that it requires little explanation. I had heard this bandied about down the years as being arguably Daniel Craig's best, though that is all that I knew about it.

What a film! I knew it was one of my favourites because I got goosebumps as soon as the credits rolled as I processed it and that only happens for the movies I adore. Going back to Craig, that man is superb in this, definitely one of the best performances of his that I've seen - up there with <em>'Knives Out'</em>. That's also saying something, given his other stellar stint as that spy geezer.

Michael Gambon is, though, the one I enjoyed most. I'm already a big fan of his, though here he is also a notch above; his voice is up is just so iconic. Away from Craig & Gambon, I lost track of all the known faces that appeared <em>*insert Rick Dalton meme here*</em>. Crazy to see Tom Hardy in this and that he's used the least of his whole crew! I also didn't even recognise Sally Hawkins, despite seeing her name in the opening credits!

Simply put: It's brilliantly entertaining! I loved every second, quite literally. It gave me exactly what I wanted from a British gangster flick, so many from this subgenre fail to correctly tow the line between the crime and comedic gangster elements so it can either be cringe or boring, or even both.

This, however, utterly nailed it for me. It also holds a pleasing score, you give me that, an entertaining plot and a fantastic cast then, I'm afraid, I am gonna love your movie. It does surpass (the great) <em>'Stardust'</em> as my standout Matthew Vaughn flick.

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