User reviews

"Layer Cake" the stylish neo noir film by Matthew Vaughn, making his directorial debut, shows a man with enormous potential to do much better in future projects. The film, based on J.J. Connelly's novel, is a study about the drug business by some ruthless people that are making a lot of money with their illegal commerce.

Point in case, the nameless hero of the story who figures he has played the game right and now is about to make an exit from the business. Little does he know that his friend Jimmy Price has other ideas for him to execute, no doubt driven by a desire to get him in trouble, as proves to be the case.

"Layer Cake" screams for a second viewing. In fact, it is probably a requirement because it will make things clearer to the viewer who might get lost in this story with so many twists and turns.

Daniel Craig is the best thing going in the movie. In fact, he kept reminding us of a young Steve McQueen because of his cool demeanor and how he seems to move effortlessly throughout the film. Kenneth Cranham, as Jimmy Price, is also another actor whose contribution is an asset in the film. Michael Gambon, leaner and tanner, is a cool drug lord who rules a vast empire. Colm Meaney also is excellent, as well as the extensive cast.

Look for the next film by Matthew Vaughn!

For people who think convoluted is clever. For people who think ensembling an assortment of gangster stereotypes is expansive.

Still, it mostly works. The acting is fine. Everything to do with "The Serbs" is ridiculous. One minute "The Serbs" are blood-thirsty, omniscient masters of crime. The next minute they are shoulder-shruggers who can't find anyone in London and fall for the oldest trick in the book.

But, given that the acting & style are the two best attributes of the film, can you imagine how bad the book must be?

The trailers to Layer Cake left me with mixed feelings. Usually when a trailer needs to draw reference to 'one's we made earlier' (in this case Lock, Stock, and Snatch) when the writer or director of said films has nothing to do with the project, the end result is a poor copycat. After watching the film, I am more than impressed!

Layer Cake introduces us (once more) to the world of the cockney gangsters, and the dealing of drugs. The medication of choice this time is Ecstacy, and the set up involves an up-and-coming name in the dealing trade being thrown a job by one of the big names. Sent to find a missing girl, and also buy and sell on a large shipment, it all seems like easy work. However, as he soon finds, things are not always as they seem, and before long his life is at risk when the deal begins to go sour.

For the first 20 minutes of the film I couldn't decide whether it was going to be a Lock, Stock, or Honest (the dreadful All Saints film). The film uses the obligatory 'catchy' tunes from the past 2 decades, and uses the same type of framing of scenes as the genre. For the first 20 minutes, whilst we were introduced rapidly to the characters in the tale, it was hard to discern where the plot was going, and even harder to care much about the players. By the half way point I was engrossed! The plot twists and turns at various points throughout, and you do begin to care about the lead character and the associates around him.

The film oozes cockney cool, and although not quite on par with the best of the genre, it is still a worthy, and very engrossing, offering from director Matthew Vaughn. Stylishly shot, with a great soundtrack, this is one of those films that blokes will walk out of very pleased, but their partners may not feel the same way. Whilst not really violent or sexist in nature, this is a lads film through and through, and it is one cake that I want another slice of.

I can IMPOSSIBLY outline the plot of Matthew Vaughn's Layer Cake, so I'll just say it's about a nameless guy (Daniel Craig) doing some criminal stuff in London.

In my observation there are three approaches to gangster characters in crime films: 1) The overly-amateurish 'gangsters' that are scared sh*t and mess up, like in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, 2) The kind of gangster who is an amateur, but picks up on criminal ways quickly and effortlessly if the occasion calls for it, like Max the cab driver from Collateral and 3) The stone-cold professionals who can do whatever, whenever with whatever, like any mob-boss, contract killer, etc.

What is so endlessly refreshing about Layer Cake (2004) is that it applies none of these approaches to its main character Daniel Craig. He is a drug-dealer, but reluctantly resorts to violent ways. He hates guns. Murders and violence disturb him. He takes time to cope with things. He shows fear and hesitation. He actually bleeds when he is hit. In short, he is an extremely realistic person and this facilitates the film's realistic atmosphere - there's no glossy visuals or over-the-top violence.

Now, it is my opinion that Layer Cake could have perhaps used some of the latter to spice things up. Its director is the producer of Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and it is clear here that he is trying to move away from flashy Ritchie editing and effects as much as possible, making his own film just a bit too barren in order to be 'different'. It works fine, but as a result, the gangster characters aren't very funny or colourful - rather they are down-to-earth London men trying to make a living. A shady living, true, but still a living.

A few bland characters and an extra-template romantic storyline featuring Sienna Miller (I like her, but she is redundant in this film) drag this film down, but overall it is a very solid crime thriller, superbly acted by Daniel Craig. The score is great. In particular, please note the great use of "Ordinary World" by Duran Duran. Layer Cake isn't gloriously entertaining or anything but it feels very real and engaging and it is interesting to see the acting abilities of future Mr Bond - as well as his bare chest.

7/10

After being cast as Bond, Daniel Craig's back catalogue is now much sought after. Although Craig came to most of the UK's attention with a stand out performance in Our Friends in the North, it's Layer Cake that showcases why he got the Bond audition. Perhaps now, this strong contender for the best thriller of the year may find the audience it deserves. Mis-sold as a more art house friendly addition to the Guy Ritchie school of crime films, Layer Cake is a unique and remarkable experience.

The plot is deceivingly simple and would wrongly be placed in the gangster-wanting-to-retire-peacefully cinema staple seen frequently in Al Pacino movies. It is a much greater accomplishment that the audacious visual style, superb script and excellent performances make easy comparisons to this film pretty difficult. If anything it is closer to Schrader's 'American Gigalo' where the morally questionable hero is engulfed in a situation going on around him. The predominantly male cast is faultless with everyone from Dexter Fletcher to Michael Gambon putting in superb turns to give the characters justice. Far more human than the cartoon stereotypes we've come to expect after so very many Brit gangster flicks. Craig has never looked in better shape for taking on Hollywood.

Hats off then to Matthew Vaugn for filming Britain as it can look. Grimy in places but every bit astonishing in locations as our Stateside cousins. We've grown too used to seeing rain pouring and hackneyed clichés that have represented this country on celluloid. It's not foppish. It's not Bend It Like Beckham. So there really is no excuse left not to see it (aside from the awful trailer). Layer Cake deserves a wide audience and there's more than enough of everything for everyone to enjoy. At times hilarious, astonishingly frank and incredibly concise the whole film is a pure joy and clearly made for people that love film. Makes you wonder why they can't all be as classy as this.

This is a clever drug dealer movie set in the UK. It starts out with the main character (XXXX) and narrator cheerfully extolling the virtues of the drug industry when you are careful and organised like he is. He is about to retire with a nice little fortune. Then it all starts to go wrong, one thing after another as layers are added to the plot.

Sometimes it seems as if the plot is too complex and there are two dangers, one of leaving the audience behind and two leaving gaping holes in the plot. Still the humour and action set pieces are enough to pull it through. It is not as good as Snatch or Lock, Stock etc but is original enough to stand on its own right. Worth a look.

Breath of fresh air, wonderfully politically incorrect. Loved every minute of it. Pity we have to go back to 2004 just to see a decent film. Some great characters and dialogue.

This is a rather well made and flashy movie, that in the end is still nothing more than an average British crime movie.

The fact that this movie doesn't really raise above the level of average is due to the story. It's not necessarily a movie with a confusing story but its more a movie that makes things unnecessarily hard on itself, just to let the story seem more complex than it in fact truly is. It's as if the movie tried too hard to be something that it just isn't. On top of that the story also isn't always interesting or original enough to follow. The beginning is good and so is the ending but the middle drags a little and offers little new.

So you can say that the story-telling is worse than the actual story. Sure the movie is made with lots of pace and style but it seemed to me as if the director lost track of things at times. Matthew Vaughn is also still a beginning director, so I'm sure of it he will learn from his mistakes and he'll become a better director one day.

It isn't really a tough gangster flick, though the intentions are definitely there. I feel that the movie would had been a better one of it was even more brutal and straight-forward. Also some more humor and less serious characters would had worked out better for the movie. No, this really unfortunately ain't no Guy Ritchie movie, who still makes the best British gangster movies.

But of course this still obviously is a good movie to watch. The actors carry the movie and in the end the movie also offers some nice and thoughtful twists, like you always could expect from a British gangster movie.

Daniel Craig was a surprising and great leading actor. It's not his best role but still he mostly carries the movie entirely on his own. The movie is still filled with lots of fine supporting actors, such as Colm Meaney, Michael Gambon, Dragan Micanovic, Sienna Miller, Dexter Fletcher and George Harris. Especially nice to see Colm Meaney in a big production again. Sienna Miller's role seemed to be completely redundant on some other characters on the other hand got underused, such as the Dragan Micanovic's one.

A rather good movie to watch but not the must-see everyone makes you believe it is.

7/10

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After an art house release everywhere else in the civilized world, LAYER CAKE (LC) unexpectedly premiered in our area, the Lehigh Valley, at the $4 theater in Easton (this joint started as a second-run theater, but it's been getting some acclaimed imports and indies lately, too. Somebody there is a good programmer!). This British import, adapted by J.J. Connolly from his novel, is a taut crime drama that moves with the sleek menace of a tiger. Imagine THE BIG SLEEP with an ever-so-slightly more coherent plot and, as its protagonist, a prosperous, wily drug dealer looking to retire after one last score instead of tough but noble private eye Philip Marlowe. Our hero's problem is that he's a careful, calculating businessman in a dicey business where he's surrounded by loose cannons who shoot, stab, or punch first and ask questions later. Director Matthew Vaughn has been best known as Guy Ritchie's producer, but in his directorial debut Vaughn is like Martin Scorsese to Ritchie's Barry Sonnenfeld (that's meant as a compliment to all concerned, I assure you). It helps that Vaughn gets excellent performances from Daniel Craig as our cool but in-over-his-head unnamed antihero (usually films and books that refuse to name their main character strike me as trying too hard to be clever, but it works here), Michael Gambon nearly stealing the show as a cultured but ruthless narcotics kingpin, Colm Meaney and THE INTERPRETER's George Harris as our protagonist's partners in crime, and many folks from Guy Ritchie's films. Sienna Miller doesn't get to do much beyond being eye candy, but she's tasty eye candy indeed. I'm as heterosexual a gal as they come, but after seeing lithe, leggy Miller strip down to black lingerie and garters, I couldn't help thinking, "That Jude Law is one lucky guy!" :-) One of the things I liked about LC is that the protagonist, while thoughtful and competent, is never quite as clever as he thinks he is; somehow everybody manages to be one step ahead of him, if only because they're all so damned unpredictable. Though I've only seen Daniel Craig in three of his many films (the other two were THE ROAD TO PERDITION and THE JACKET), he's clearly one of those actors who never looks or sounds the same from role to role, so if he does indeed end up being Pierce Brosnan's successor as James Bond as rumored, it'll be interesting to see how he fares playing the same character in more than one film! :-) In any case, Craig certainly lives up to the "new Steve McQueen" rep that LC has garnered him. I look forward to seeing what he'll do next!

I was really looking forward to seeing Matthew Vaughn's turn at directing a film and what better genre to see him make his debut in than the British gangster genre especially after his roles in the fabulous 'Lock,Stock...' and 'Snatch' even though they were Guy Ritchie's.

Fans of those two movies may notice a few references in this one, most notably two of the actors used and some of the dialogue sounded fairly similar to a few lines out of 'Lock, Stock' but they didn't detract from the films quality. For a while, I thought I was watching 'Snatch' from a few years ago as the pace and the amount of characters that were piling up in the film was at times overwhelming. This may be the downside to many people's opinion of the film but I could cope. I realized the main characters, 'got to know them', and focused very much on them. Characters like 'The Duke' and 'Morty'; that way, I wasn't totally confused at first sight.

The acting was good and there are moments which creep along silently that will have you on the edge of your seat. This included the factory in Amsterdam being robbed by 'The Duke' and his cronies as well as the scene during which our main character: 'XXXX' is pinned down in a park by a psychopathic Eastern European hit-man whilst on the phone to him.

The acting is faultless and flows all the way through. When there are scenes which perhaps do go on longer than you'd like them to, the acting and dialogue just manage to keep them going to the end. The humour element is also there as I expected it would be. Most of the time they're 'chuckle to yourself' moments but there are two or three moments where you'll really find something funny and want to laugh out loud.

Overall, it was great fun and a damn good film. I think it can just about stand it's self up there with Ritchie's two acts of brilliance as a result.

I think you can tell; I enjoyed my piece.........

A drug dealer's plan to retire is put on hold when his boss asks him take on a couple of tough assignments. Vaughn, the producer of "Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels" and "Snatch" tries his hand at directing but should have left the job to Guy Ritchie. Vaughn tries to be slick but is annoying, stressing style over substance and reveling in gratuitous violence. Not that the substance is all that interesting anyway. The plot is hopelessly convoluted with too many uninteresting characters that are hard to keep track of. There are many things left unexplained. Craig plays the antithesis of Bond here, a cowardly fellow who hates guns and tries to run when thing get hot.

I went into Layer Cake with no expectations. Being honest, I found the trailer tedious the second time I saw it. I didn't like the whole cake idea, it was okay to a certain extent I guess. I did however enjoy Lock Stock and Snatch. Layer Cake is a different kind of animal.

Whilst Lock Stock and Snatch were more comedy based, Layer Cake has this more serious approach, no names flashing on the screen, identifying any of the characters, so you have to pay extra special attention!

There are several flashback/sub plots which don't particularly help as they can confuse you if you're not paying attention. There were many characters introduced to you in a short space of time and then suddenly going off at a tangent involving some of the 'slightly minor lead' characters.

You can see the influences of other directors in Matthew Vaughn's end product. The direction style is good and the montage is solid.

Daniel Craig gives a good solid performance. His narrative does help place him well in the movie. His narrative in the beginning is definitely something that draws you in. The rest of the performances are pretty good. Tamer Hassan has a minor role. After seeing the major role he had in The Football Factory, he can act, he should have possibly had a larger character. His character does not shine across as that 'demented' as that in The Football Factory. Sienna Miller was underused also, which was a shame.

Although there are some problems with the story, Matthew Vaughn has made a respectable movie. This being his debut, he has nothing to be ashamed of. As long as he works on the clarity of the plot more, he will have no problems securing full audiences. Layer Cake gives a good reputation to British films instead of the some rubbish released over the last few years.

I enjoyed the ending, it was good, I'm not going to say anything about it!

My rating 7/10

A fun thriller that combines fast-paced action and black humor in the purest Ritchie style , concerning a mobster who tries to leave his sinister job when a chain of events unfolds, involving betrayal , disorder , blackmail , deception , mayhem and killings . Stars XXX (Daniel Craig), he's a sharp-suited, throughly modern criminal. Impeccable in appearance, well dressed, always attentive, XXX seems like a serious and ruthless businessman. But in reality his profession consists of trafficking cocaine and ecstasy. Work with which he has managed to amass a great fortune while gaining respect from the English mafia. He now intends to retire from the business to enjoy the money he has earned. But his boss Jimmy Price (Kenneth Cranham) asks him for two last requests : locate the daughter of missing criminal Eddie Temple (Michael Gambon) and act as intermediary in the purchase of a huge stash of ecstasy.

Lavish production packed with action, intrigue, suspense, amusement and with overtones of ¨The Long Good Friday . Casting , plot twists , lots of action and attractive dialogue in Guy Ritchie style are spot on. The filmmaker Mathew Vaughan, producer and screenwriter of among other titles: ¨Lock and Stock¨ and ¨Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch¨by Guy Ritchie, makes his debut as a director and does it well, with this adaptation of the original novel of the same name by J. J. Connolly, who is also the screenwriter of the film. In the beginning, Vaughn was only going to intervene as producer, leaving the task to Ritchie, but when he rejected it Vaughn decided to direct. It stars the charismatic Daniel Craig (Casino Royale, Munich, The Jacket) as a young and successful cocaine dealer who by his boss in organized crime asks him to perform a couple of favors. As a elegant criminal, Craig dances around an ever-evolving cast of gangster types, attempting and failing to quit the messy drugs business into which he slips more and more at every tick of the clock. J. J. Connolly's novel and script gives Vaughn a credible host of roles to perform and the director refrains from caricature painting instead a distinct, muted vision of the London underworld in which the rising towes and grey skies of 'Canary Wharf' stress the onset of a new crime generation, fuelled by drugs, and Eastern European muscle. Peel away the elegant suits, the wit, the drugs, the chases, the complex intrigue, twists, turns and you're not left with with much else to chew on.

Daniel Craig is well accompanied by a good cast, such as: Michael Gambon as a powerful construction business player and gossip papers socialite and Kenneth Cranham as another ageing crimelord who has his own agenda. Along with Tom Hardy (Venom, Dunquerke, Inception), Jamie Foreman (Elizabeth, Sleepy Hollow), and the rising actress Sienna Miller (Alfie, Casanova). And adding others as Jamie Foreman, Sally Hawkins, Burn Gorman, George Harris, Colm Meaney, Marcel Iures, Dexter Fletcher and Ben Whishaw, all of them giving simpathetic interpretations.

This fun thriller that combines action-packed and drops of humor with Tarantinian dialogues was well directed by Matthew Vaughn. He's a good writer, producer (Guy Ritchie movies) and director, producing or shooting blockbuster films, such as: ¨Layer Cake¨ ¨X: First Class¨, ¨Stardust¨, ¨Kick ass¨, ¨Rocket man¨, ¨Silent night¨, ¨Tetris¨, ¨Blood night¨, among others. Rating: 7.5/10. Better than average. Well worth watching. The film will appeal to Daniel Craig fans and British thriller enthusiasts.

I was expecting good things and wasn't disappointed. It's been a while since I saw a good British gangster film. Layer Cake filled the void nicely. The acting was good, script was tight and the film was well cast. People I had not seen before were well used in their characters. The film starts out nice and simple but as it progreses it gets quite deep and twisted.

I was most surprised by Colm Meaney, I've ever only known him in Startrek.

But was superbly cast and had a quite menacing air about him.

LC has a few laughs for those with a more twisted sense of humour, it's not obvious comedy either and the film never plays for laughs. Very different to Lock Stock and Snatch. The director did well to move out from Guy Ritchie and make a serious film.

"Layer Cake" may not be a particularly original film. Its plot seems reminiscent of countless others, e.g. "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels". Nonetheless, it is a stylish and entertaining one and keeps the viewer hooked right up until the final scene.

Daniel Craig plays a drug dealer (whose character is not actually named and who is referred to simply as "XXXX" in the closing credits) in London. He regards himself as a businessman rather than a criminal. He professes to a hatred of guns and violence and he goes about his lucrative dealings in a low-key manner and in a way designed to keep himself under the radar and out of trouble. His aim is to make some money and to retire to Spain or somewhere similar to enjoy the fruits of his ill-gotten gains. However, his plans come awry when, on the threshold of retirement, he is asked by a powerful crime boss with whom he has done a number of deals in the past (Jimmy Price, played by Kenneth Cranham) to find the missing daughter of a friend and associate of his. That friend and associate turns out to be Eddie Temple (brilliantly portrayed by Michael Gambon), who is even more powerful, devious and ruthless than Price. It transpires that Price's motives in asking for his friend's daughter to be located are not as altruistic as they seem. Price also asks Craig's character to find a buyer for a huge consignment of drugs that have, in fact, been stolen by another dealer (The Duke, played by Jamie Foreman) from a ruthless Serbian drugs gang whose leader Dragan has a penchant for beheading anyone who gets in his way. Craig's character finds it difficult to say no to the powerful Price and so he embarks on a course that raises his profile and makes him enemies.

"Layer Cake" is a riveting film. Although its plot earns few marks for originality, it is a well- written one (by J J Connolly, who based the screenplay on his own novel of the same name) and is clearly and accessibly portrayed. There are several clever twists that are plausible and unexpected. I have seen so many films of this sort in which the plot is either ludicrous or does not hang together properly. That is most definitely not the case here. The direction is very good and Craig himself is excellent in the starring role. The supporting cast, which contains a number of well-known British character actors as well as stars such as Gambon, are all very good too. The soundtrack, which features British rock music by the likes of The Cult and Duran Duran and which makes good use at the end of the film of Joe Cocker's version of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", perfectly complements what we see on the screen. There are some minor visual continuity errors. One such is that the injuries on the face of Craig's character after he receives a going over from his fellow gangsters for supposed disloyalty are not compatible with each other in succeeding scenes. I also think that the film's attempts at humour are somewhat misplaced. Here are two examples. Temple is portrayed as liking opera and in one scene is keen to complete a conversation so that he can get away to go to a performance of Berlioz's "The Damnation of Faust". A northern hit man, when travelling in a taxi with Craig's character, is more keen on practising his oral French in readiness for an imminent test than on a more normal conversation. These two scenes are presumably intended to lighten things up. But they seem merely to be bolted on for the sake of it and add nothing to the development of either character. These are minor weaknesses though.

"Layer Cake" is an entertaining film that is well worth seeing. 8/10.

As someone who likes to think they've seen a lot of movies, after I watched this I was almost embarrassed I hadn't come across it before. This film was lights out and immediately shot up my list of all-time favs. Sex, Drugs, Violence. Well-woven storylines, perfect soundtrack, and an all-star cast. Also, I'm no expert, but you could tell some of the filmmaking was first-class. Can't recommend this movie enough. 11/10

Although there have been some excellent examples, such as "Brighton Rock", "Get Carter" and "Mona Lisa", gangster films have traditionally not had the same cultural importance in the British cinema as they have in America, possibly because organised gangsterism has not been such a problem in this country. (The heyday of the Kray and Richardson gangs in the 1960s was about as close as we ever came to having our own homegrown Mafia). Since the success of Guy Ritchie's "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" in the late nineties, however, there has been a modest revival of the British gangster flick.

"Layer Cake" was directed by Matthew Vaughn, who produced "Lock, Stock...". It revolves around the life of an anonymous London cocaine dealer (referred to in the cast list as "XXXX"). XXXX, who prides himself on the professionalism with which he runs his operation, has made a handsome amount of money and is hoping to retire from crime so that he can enjoy life in his elegant mews residence. Before he can do so, however, his chief supplier Jimmy Price has two final tasks for him.

The first task is to track down Charlotte Temple, the missing wayward socialite daughter of one of Jimmy's associates. The second is to supervise the purchase of a million ecstasy tablets from a gangster known as "the Duke." Unknown to XXXX, both these tasks come with complications. Jimmy claims that he wants to find Charlotte as a favour to her father Eddie, an old friend. The truth is that she is not really missing but Jimmy wants to find her to use her as a hostage in his dealings with Eddie. (The two have fallen out over a business deal that went wrong). As for the ecstasy tablets, the Duke has stolen them from a ruthless Serbian gang who are determined to get them back. The plot gets very complicated, so I will not attempt to summarise it any further.

The title "Layer Cake" refers to social strata, especially in the criminal underworld, but also to those in wider British society. The film has some sharp points to make about the British social system, as there are certain points of contact between the "layers" of the criminal world and those of society as a whole. At the bottom of the pile are the criminal underclass of crude low-life thugs. Just above them are small-time gangsters like the Duke, whose nickname is clearly ironic as nobody would take him as part of the criminal aristocracy. Next come people like Jimmy Price, a big-time gangster who likes to pose as a legitimate businessman, and finally someone like Eddie Temple, a legitimate, or at least semi-legitimate, businessman who retains links to the underworld yet whose wealth enables him to pose, if not as a bona fide aristocrat, at least as a respectable High Society figure. XXXX seems to believe that by giving up his life of crime he can achieve a similar respectability, but of course cutting his links to the underworld proves more difficult than he imagined.

The film reminded me in some ways of "London Boulevard", another 21st century British gangster movie. Both were the work of first-time directors, Vaughn here and William Monahan in the case of "London Boulevard". Both films are, on a technical level, accomplished pieces of film-making, telling their story in a fluent and compelling manner, and both are attractively photographed, with good use made of London scenes. Both contain some decent acting from the cast. Daniel Craig's XXXX may be a villain, but at least Craig makes him a cool and stylish one, and there are some good supporting performances. The one that stood out for me was from Michael Gambon as Eddie Temple. (It is said that Craig's performance here was responsible for his inning the coveted role of James Bond).

My main problem with "London Boulevard" was that all the characters, virtually without exception, were so unsympathetic, and this was perhaps an even greater problem with "Lock, Stock...", a film which has always struck me as greatly overrated. (As has its director, the former Mr Madonna Guy Ritchie). I will not pretend that this was not also a problem with "Layer Cake", but because of its intriguing analysis of the nexus between criminality and social class I am prepared to rate the film higher than "London Boulevard", and certainly higher than "Lock, Stock...". 6/10

This British gangster film was originally intended for director Guy Ritchie's typically heavy-handed approach, but thankfully, duty took him elsewhere and the gig landed in producer Matthew Vaughn's hands. Vaughn is now well-established amongst the Hollywood elite, having since gone on to direct the underrated Stardust (2007), the hugely entertaining Kick-Ass (2010), and the rather hit-and-miss X-Men: First Class (2011), but he made his name with this now-cult and extremely stylish little thriller that also paved the way for star Daniel Craig to become James Bond and an A-lister in one swoop. Vaughn's ability to stamp his quirky humour onto relatively familiar grounds is clear from the off, with Craig nameless protagonist (credited simply as XXXX) giving us the narration to his world, only this protagonist is about to get a massive life-lesson, and one that is quite suitable to our times.

XXXX is a successful cocaine dealer who, along with his cohorts Gene (Colm Meaney), Morty (George Harris), Terry (Tamer Hassan) and Clarkie (Tom Hardy), is on the verge of making the big deal that could see his retirement. "Have a plan, and stick to it," he tells us, only crime boss Jimmy Price (Kenneth Cranham) has different ideas. He sets XXXX the task of finding the daughter of larger crime lord Eddie Temple (Michael Gambon), a promising girl who has taken to drugs and since gone missing. Meanwhile, in Amsterdam, cocky gangster Duke (Jamie Foreman) has made a huge ecstasy heist but has stolen from the wrong person. All roads lead to XXXX, who finds himself pulled into a labyrinthine crime world where he starts to truly know his place.

This world of loud-mouthed gangsters and powerful old men in expensive suits that London (and the UK film industry) seems to enjoy mixing itself up with is frankly tiresome and has been done to death (especially in the straight-to-DVD market). Yet Layer Cake has less of the colourful, wise-cracking cock-er-neys and slow-motion bloodshed of Guy Ritchie's back catalogue, and shares more with the sleek, neon-lit world of Michael Mann. Although it does quite often border on style- over-substance, and the multi-stranded plot is not quite as clever as it thinks it is, the film is funny, entertaining and frequently surprising. The final moments especially pull the rug from beneath you when you think everything is nicely wrapped up.

The title refers to the social stratification of XXXX's world, and shows that it applies even to the criminal underworld, as well as business, social and political systems. XXXX thinks of himself as top dog, and in the opening scenes, we see him coolly going about his business - shades on, snappy suit, and he even takes the girl (Sienna Miller) of Duke's ridiculous nephew Sidney (Ben Whishaw). But his world, like our world, doesn't quite work like that. In the past year or so, we as the public have learned that we are mere cockroaches in a crushing capitalist country that vomits luxury onto the rich and powerful, and steals from the tax-payer. Like us, XXXX is chewed up by the system, giving him a slap-in-the-face dose of realism that he didn't see coming. The system is embodied by the towering Eddie Temple, in an effortlessly brilliant performance by a ridiculously fake-tanned Michael Gambon. This aspect is the main reason why this film stands out amongst its imitators. An introduction to an interesting film-maker and its intriguing star.

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After 40min of trying to understand whats happing I stopped. This movie is so confusing i hate it, I wanted to stop watching after 20min but i continued watching hoping i will understand whats going on but NOO it gets more and more confusing and so hard to understand but hey maybe its me.