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Layer Cake (2005)
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Reviews Counted:30
Fresh:25
Rotten:5
Average Rating:7.4/10
Consensus: A stylized, electric British crime thriller.
Rated: R [See Full Rating] for strong brutal violence, sexuality, nudity, pervasive language and drug use.
Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
Theatrical Release:May 13, 2005 Limited
Box Office: $2,277,736
Synopsis: LAYER CAKE, a riveting thriller set in the drug underworld of the UK, marks the directorial debut of producer Mathew Vaughn (Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch) and stars Daniel Craig, Colm... LAYER CAKE, a riveting thriller set in the drug underworld of the UK, marks the directorial debut of producer Mathew Vaughn (Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch) and stars Daniel Craig, Colm Meaney, Kenneth Cranham, George Harris, Jamie Foreman, Sienna Miller and Michael Gambon. Sleek, well dressed and polite, our unnamed hero (Daniel Craig) is a consummate professional. Treating cocaine and ecstasy like any other commodity, he has made a fortune for himself by keeping his hands clean and staying under the radar. Having made the decision to retire, his aim is to break free from the world of crime, drugs and violence and live a simple, quiet life with the money he has amassed. But before this can happen, crime boss Jimmy Price (Kenneth Cranham) wants two last favors from him. First, he must track down the missing, drug addict daughter of powerful criminal Eddie Temple (Michael Gambon). Second, he must negotiate the sale of a huge shipment of ecstasy with The Duke (Jamie Foreman), a loose cannon petty crook playing well out of his league. What should be routine transaction is anything but and nothing goes according to plan. Instead, duplicity and hidden alliances become the order of the day, in a struggle for power that reaches from the crack dens of London to the highest ranks of British society. Quickly he learns he is part of a machine much greater than he imagined, and getting out won't be quite as easy as getting in. Sony Pictures Classics presents a Matthew Vaughn Production, LAYER CAKE, starring Daniel Craig, Colm Meaney, Kenneth Cranham, George Harris, Jamie Foreman, Sienna Miller and Michael Gambon. Written by author J.J. Connolly (adapted from his novel of the same name), the film is produced by Vaughn, David Reid and Adam Bohling. The Executive Producer is Stephen Marks, Director of Photography is Ben Davis, Editor is Jon Davis and Production Designer is Kave Quinn. [More]
Starring: Daniel Craig, Colm Meaney, George Harris, Jamie Foreman
Starring: Daniel Craig, Colm Meaney, George Harris, Jamie Foreman, Sienna Miller, Michael Gambon, Kenneth Cranham, Marcel Iures, Tom Hardy, Tamer Hassan, Sally Hawkins
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Screenwriter: J.J. Connolly
Producer: Matthew Vaughn, David Reid, Adam Bohling
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics
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Reviews for Layer Cake
It's a little bleak, a little twisted, a little gory, and a lot funny.
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.
It's a stylish and classic gangster saga about the clashing of rival empires, where the only thing worse than the killer before you is the killer waiting behind him.
A gangster film, despite what its title suggests, that ranks with the best of the genre.
Bloody good fun a great deal of the time. Love the accents. Love the guns. Bang-bang.
May be a worthy successor to a busy genre, but it is not an inventive inheritor.
An appropriately hard-boiled quality runs through the movie, and the cast (from top to bottom) brings its best, putting the frosting on this nasty bit of Layer Cake.
As good as the story and direction may be, much of the film's success is up to Daniel Craig.
The special appeal of Layer Cake derives from its efficient, gripping story and from the personality of the unnamed protagonist.
A propulsive drug-world movie that dutifully covers similar ground in and around London: guns, chicks, inventive use of the F word, expensive-looking locations, designer stuff, and so on.
Craig is fascinating here as a criminal who is very smart, and finds that is not an advantage because while you might be able to figure out what another smart person is about to do, dumbos like the men he works for are likely to do anything.
A corrosive confection of style and bile, its gleaming, butter cream-frosted contours not really concealing the crumbs who have curdled British society with their drugs.
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