‘Layer Cake’ is a British Crime film, focusing on the exploits of London based criminal XXXX, (Daniel Craig), as he tries to leave the drug business. This is the first film directed by Matthew Vaughn, of Kingman fame, and serves as one of Daniel Craig’s breakout roles.
The plot of the film is nothing new, drug dealer wants to retire, but then finds out he is too valuable to the boss; so said boss is decidedly not in favour of letting him go. The subplots of the film revolve around XXXX trying to stop a Serbian hitman from killing him and, his colleagues after a drug deal goes bad and, XXXX trying to find a girl who has gone missing. The culmination of all of these plots coming together make for an incredibly interesting watch, gripping through and, through. However, at times the plot does become a little messy, I think one of the subplots could have been dropped and, the film would still be incredibly engaging.
The style that has made Vaughn so famous is on full display in this his debut film, the editing and, cinematography of the film feel very Guy Ritchie esque, but lovingly like a homage to a contemporary rather than a blatant copy. Also to my joy, this film steers well away from a lot of the pacing and, plot issues that plague some of Ritchie’s work, especially in something like Revolver.
Another thing that makes this film so good is it’s leading man Craig is charming and charismatic throughout, he carries this film. There are moments in this film that are reminiscent of his later role as Bond, literally shot for shot the same; you can see where the Bond filmmakers looked to when they were casting. Outside of this year’s Knives Out this might be Craig’s finest performance to date, this is definitely a star-making turn for him.
‘Layer Cake’ is one of the best, and to an extent one of the last, big-budget, British gangster films, the genre that gave birth to such films as Lockstock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch and The Business to name but a few. It is true to say that they don’t make films like this anymore, they’re very off their time, the late 90s early 2000s and, it is a shame that we don’t get these sort of films anymore. However, more recent films like Legend have carried on this tradition to a lesser degree, and are still excellent, speaking of Tom Hardy he is also in this film, albeit briefly.
Overall this is a superb film, a must-watch, and proof that Vaughn and, Craig are incredibly talented; I can’t recommend this film enough.
4/5
Reviewed by Luke
Another Millennial Reviewer 