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Layer Cake
Directed by: Matthew Vaughn
Starring: Daniel Craig
Genre:
Action/Adventure
Run Time: 105
min.
Release Date:
March 2005
On The Web:
Official
Site
Teaser:
Movie Trailer
Reviewed by
Byron Merritt |
Plans within plans within
plans. That best describes LAYER CAKE, director Matthew Vaughn’s
(SNATCH) crime-drama about a man with no name who’s need to get
out of the drug running business leads him to a surprising end.
Daniel Craig (CASINO
ROYALE) stars as XXXX (he has no official name but one
can surmise that it may have to do with a Faustish character). He wants
out of his illegal drug profession but is swept back into play by a
large market intro of ecstasy by a wacked-out guy named the Duke (Jamie
Foreman). XXXX’s boss orders him to meet with the Duke and to find out
what happened to a friend’s daughter who’d disappeared with her
boyfriend.
Come to find out, XXXX’s boss is out to pull a fast one on this supposed
friend with the missing daughter by kidnaping her himself (should XXXX
find her) and forcing a showdown that’ll allow his boss sole access to
the street-bound ecstasy.
But an additional layer of deceit quickly gets piled on as we learn that
the Duke stole the ecstasy from a very nasty character called Dragan.
Dragan is not to be messed with, killing anyone or anything that gets in
his way. We never see Dragan but only hear his ominous voice or the back
of his head.
Another layer is added as XXXX learns that his boss is actually a police
informant and Craig’s character is forced to kill him in order to
survive — something that wreaks havoc on XXXX’s sleep and psyche ...for
a while.
XXXX’s friends Gene (Colm Meaney) and Morty (George Harris) act as
grounding forces that keep XXXX in line, until he kills their boss and
Gene is forced to thrash him in order to get the truth from him.
The final layer involves a sort of femme fatale named Tammy (Sienna
Miller, CASANOVA) whom XXXX becomes infatuated with and will unknowingly
bring about his downfall in the most ironic of circumstances (not having
to do with drugs or money at all).
An entertaining if overly drawn-out layering of plots that sometimes
feel forced or contrived and other times hitting their mark, Layer Cake
is an interesting look at Daniel Craig just prior to his rise to the 007
ranks.
Personally, I prefer director Vaughn’s aforementioned Snatch and his now cultish
LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS to this flick. It’s engaging
enough to be interesting, but not much more.
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Image from Layer Cake
DVD cost: $15.99
Purchase:
BestPrices.com
Film Review Stew
Favorite? No.
Stew Poo-Poo? No.
Newsworthy:
During the scene in which
Gene gives XXXX a handgun, director Matthew Vaughn says on the DVD
commentary that XXXX "wants to be James Bond." Daniel Craig (XXXX) was
announced as the successor to Pierce Brosnan in the role of James Bond
almost exactly one year after this film's original release.
Movie Quote: "I'm
not a gangster. I'm a business man, giving people what they want."
Other Actors/Actresses
from Layer Cake
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