Opening

75% World War Z Jun 21
80% Monsters University Jun 21
62% The Bling Ring Jun 21
58% Maniac Jun 21
100% A Hijacking Jun 21
66% Unfinished Song Jun 21
100% The Attack Jun 21
—— The Haunting of Helena Jun 21

Top Box Office

56% Man of Steel $116.6M
85% This Is the End $20.7M
50% Now You See Me $11.0M
71% Fast & Furious 6 $9.6M
38% The Purge $8.3M
34% The Internship $7.1M
62% Epic $6.3M
87% Star Trek Into Darkness $6.3M
11% After Earth $4.1M
78% Iron Man 3 $3.0M

Coming Soon

—— How To Make Money Selling Drugs Jun 26
—— White House Down Jun 28
—— The Heat Jun 28
56% I'm So Excited! Jun 28

Layer Cake (2004)

tomatometer

85

Average Rating: 7.4/10
Critic Reviews: 33
Fresh: 28 | Rotten: 5

A stylized, electric British crime thriller.

audience

83

liked it
Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 135,446

My Rating

Movie Info

A mechanic in the British drug trade finds himself caught in the middle of some dangerous circumstances in this crime thriller. XXXX (Daniel Craig) is a nameless go-between in the British mob who buys drugs from underground wholesalers and them sells them to street dealers, keeping the system flowing and making a tidy profit in the process. XXXX is looking forward to getting out of the game, and has displayed both smarts and caution in how he's handled his business, but before his overseer Jimmy

R,

Drama, Action & Adventure, Mystery & Suspense

J.J. Connolly

Aug 23, 2005

$2.3M

Sony Pictures Classics - Official Site External Icon

Watch It Now

Cast

ADVERTISEMENT

All Critics (141) | Top Critics (37) | Fresh (108) | Rotten (25) | DVD (23)

I like Layer Cake a lot.

June 20, 2005 Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper
Ebert & Roeper
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It's a little bleak, a little twisted, a little gory, and a lot funny.

June 11, 2005 Full Review Source: ReelViews
ReelViews
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The film is lamentably short of narrative coherence.

June 10, 2005 Full Review Source: Toronto Star | Comments (2)
Toronto Star
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The intricate thing dodges and feints and twists this way and turns that way until, by the time of the alleged resolution, we've lost our bearings completely.

June 10, 2005 Full Review Source: Globe and Mail
Globe and Mail
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It's almost too much to follow, but the style, proven by Ritchie time and again, is irresistible.

June 3, 2005 Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel
Orlando Sentinel
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It has more heft than the Ritchie movies.

June 2, 2005 Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Only the accents are thicker than double-crosses in a thriller that's stylish and sleek - note lyrically appropriate use of Duran Duran's "Ordinary World" in one sequence - but also assuredly delirious, ethically hefty and unpredictably treacherous.

September 19, 2010 Full Review Source: Suite101.com
Suite101.com

"Layer Cake" is a stylized British noir full of clever twists, biting dialogue, and plenty of ironic violence.

July 2, 2009 Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com
ColeSmithey.com

A história bem amarrada é beneficiada ainda pelo senso de humor seco e eficaz, ao passo que o elenco confere charme a um bando de personagens inescrupulosos e a direção de Vaughn, associada à inventiva montagem, torna o filme sempre instigante.

September 1, 2008
Cinema em Cena

[A] fun, snappy crime caper that begins with a wryly understated take on the "one-last-job-and-I'm-out" subgenre.

May 26, 2006 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid
Combustible Celluloid

Intense story about low-level organized crime figures embroiled in a deadly conspiracy.

March 10, 2006 Full Review Source: Laramie Movie Scope
Laramie Movie Scope

protagonist's narration puts the film's complex plot into much broader economic, political and cultural context.

November 17, 2005 Full Review Source: Draxblog Movie Reviews

A smart thrill ride with one magnificent finish.

October 7, 2005

Fun stuff indeed, even if you might need the subtitles to help decipher all the Britspeak.

August 23, 2005 Full Review Source: DVD Clinic
DVD Clinic

It does nothing revolutionary, but it handles the basics with entertaining aplomb.

July 28, 2005 Full Review Source: EricDSnider.com
EricDSnider.com

Just following what is going on is a big job, but the film has its rewards.

July 8, 2005 Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews
rec.arts.movies.reviews

Layer Cake is not the most original or memorable picture in the world, but it's a great calling card for Vaughn.

July 5, 2005 Full Review Source: Montreal Film Journal
Montreal Film Journal

Clean, crisp and gratifying, you'd be hard pressed to find a better British film this year.

July 5, 2005 Full Review Source: FilmFocus

This is one of the few movies for which I can't tell you the name of the "hero."

June 27, 2005 Full Review
KWQC-TV (Iowa)

It's nothing we haven't seen before, but Vaughn invests it with enough style and energy to make it worth the trip.

June 21, 2005 Full Review Source: Q Network Film Desk
Q Network Film Desk

...a delicious crime melodrama, with colorful characters, lots of action and violence, double and triple crosses, and a few fresh surprises of its own.

June 19, 2005 Full Review Source: Worcester Telegram & Gazette

...Michael Vaughn, has cooked up a tasty treat in his directorial debut, somewhere between Mike Hodges' cool and Guy Ritchie's out-of-control Smoking Barrels.

June 15, 2005 Full Review
Atlantic City Weekly

It's occasionally taut and clever enough to hold audience attention, but ultimately has little substance to accompany its cool exterior.

June 14, 2005 Full Review | Comments (2)
Denton Record Chronicle (TX)

Crime caper in the style of Guy Ritchie, but better.

June 14, 2005 Full Review Source: IGN Movies
IGN Movies

Nimbly dances through a handful of plot twists as we track who set up whom, and who hired whom to whack whom.

June 14, 2005

Audience Reviews for Layer Cake

A kinetic and razor sharp crime-thriller. It packs style and brains. It's got the style of Lock, Stock and two smoking barrels, Resivor dogs and Goodfellas. It`s wild, fresh, stylish and frequently funny. It's brilliant, gripping, compelling and electrifying. Gangster films don't get any better than this. One endlessly cool flick that has you thinking right till the end. You'll be intrigued, thrilled and amused and definitely entertained. A pure and wickedly awesome adrenaline rush. A unique, clever, intelligent, hard-boiled and hard-edged flick that will have you on the edge of your seat. Director, Matthew Vaughn crafts a near perfect crime film and is a wonderful directional debut. Daniel Craig gives a sensational performance.
February 2, 2007
allan913

Super Reviewer

A sharply written, funny, violent look at the British crime scene where a middleman (Daniel Craig) wants desperately out of the trade, with one last job on his mind. A somewhat of a cliche plot structure is executed with style and offers enough surprises to keep it interesting, with Craig proving to be a fine fit for the leading man (it's easy to see why he got 007 after this). Director Matthew Vaughn definitely has skill behind the camera, while giving his film a Guy Ritchie gangster feel but also not coming across as a copycat. The ending is really well done, as it pokes fun at the normal, standard finale to a film like this by throwing in a ambiguous shot at its conclusion.
October 20, 2007
Dan Schultz

Super Reviewer

    1. Morty: [XXXX is beaten and bloodied on the ground] You killed crazy Larry?
    2. Gene: So? This fucker killed Jimmy! [kicks XXXX in the chest]
    3. XXXX: Oh. Jesus Christ!
    4. Morty: [grabs XXXX by his shirt] Why did you do it?
    5. XXXX: He was an informer! He was a police informer!
    6. Gene: Jimmy, a grass? Are you fucking mad? You'll have to do better than that.
    7. XXXX: I've got a recording at home, of Jimmy and a cozzer called Albie Carter.
    8. Morty: Gene, let's listen to this shit. If he's lying, we'll both fucking kill him.
    – Submitted by David O (18 months ago)
    1. XXXX: [answering his phone] Who is this?
    2. Dragan: My name is Dragan.
    3. XXXX: How did you get this number?
    4. Dragan: Boatman Paul gave me your number, in the end.I believe you have some property that belongs to my employer and you're the person I should talk to about the return of this cargo stolen by your associate, the Duke.
    5. XXXX: Dragan, the Duke is nothing to do with me.
    6. Dragan: Mr. Duke came to Amsterdam, used your name, said he worked for you. Are you listening?
    7. XXXX: Dragan... I've got an idea. Why don't you come round for breakfast, I'll squeeze some orange juice and grind some coffee and we'll talk about this like adults, how does that sound?
    8. Dragan: Sounds very hospitable.
    9. XXXX: Do you know where I live?
    10. Dragan: No.
    11. XXXX: Well fuck off then. [hangs up]
    – Submitted by David O (18 months ago)
    1. Morty: Why did you keep the gun?
    2. Gene: Silly as sounds, but it was me favorite.
    3. Morty: I hope you don't tell your other guns that you have a favorite. [Gene and XXXX laugh]
    – Submitted by David O (18 months ago)
    1. Cody: [impersonating a police captain] Is the area now secure?
    2. Tiptoes: Yes sir.
    3. Cody: Well you can fuck off then, can't you?
    – Submitted by David O (18 months ago)
    1. XXXX: Hey Gene, I've got some good news.
    2. Gene: Oh yeah? Whats that? [punches XXXX in the face] You murdering bastard!
    – Submitted by David O (18 months ago)
    1. Clarkie: Where are we going Morty?
    2. Morty: Back to that boatyard. Someone is about to get a fucking slap.
    3. Terry: Yes Morty, about fucking time. [pats him on the back]
    – Submitted by David O (18 months ago)

Discussion Forum

Topic Last Post Replies
fucking 48 days ago 0

What's Hot On RT

Total Recall
Total Recall

John Goodman's Best Movies

Blue Jasmine
Blue Jasmine

Woody Allen in San Francisco

Diana Trailer
Diana Trailer

Naomi Watts stars as Princess Di

24 Frames
24 Frames

Pictures from a zombie nation

Latest News on Layer Cake

December 17, 2007:
RT on DVD: The Simpsons, Stardust, and More!
This week the shelves are packed, and just in time for the holidays! Check out the long-awaited...
August 8, 2007:
Matthew Vaughn To Helm Thor
Ain't It Cool News recently caught up with director Matthew Vaughn for a chat about projects past...
June 14, 2007:
Another Superhero Movie! "Thor" is Coming!
He's a Norse god with a giant hammer. Bring on the bad guys!
Help | About | Jobs | Critics Submission | API | Licensing | Mobile