Layer Cake (2004)

A successful cocaine dealer gets two tough assignments from his boss on the eve of his planned early retirement.

Director:

Matthew Vaughn

Writers:

J.J. Connolly (screenplay), J.J. Connolly (novel)

Stars:

Daniel Craig, Tom Hardy, Sienna Miller

2 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Daniel Craig	...	XXXX
Tom Hardy	...	Clarkie
Jamie Foreman	...	Duke
Sally Hawkins	...	Slasher
Burn Gorman	...	Gazza
Brinley Green	...	Nobby
George Harris	...	Morty
Tamer Hassan	...	Terry
Colm Meaney	...	Gene
Marcel Iures	...	Slavo
Francis Magee	...	Paul the Boatman
Dimitri Andreas	...	Angelo
Kenneth Cranham	...	Jimmy Price
Garry Tubbs	...	Brian
Nathalie Lunghi	...	Charlie

Storyline

A successful cocaine dealer, who has earned a respected place among England's Mafia elite, plans an early retirement from the business. However, big boss Jimmy Price hands down a tough assignment: find Charlotte Ryder, the missing rich princess daughter of Jimmy's old pal Edward, a powerful construction business player and gossip papers socialite. Complicating matters are two million pounds' worth of Grade A ecstasy, a brutal neo-Nazi sect and a whole series of double crossings. The title "LAYER CAKE" refers to the layers or levels anyone in business goes through in rising to the top. What is revealed is a modern underworld where the rules have changed. There are no 'codes', or 'families' and respect lasts as long as a line. Not knowing who he can trust, he has to use all his 'savvy', 'telling' and skills which make him one of the best, to escape his own. The ultimate last job, a love interest called Tammy, and an international drug ring threaten to draw him back into the 'cake mix'. ...

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Plot Keywords:

cocaine | drugs | pills | serbian | gangster | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong brutal violence, sexuality, nudity, pervasive language and drug use

Details

Official Sites:

Gaumont Columbia Tristar [fr] Sony Pictures

Country:

UK

Language:

English Romanian

Release Date:

1 October 2004 (UK)

Also Known As:

L4yer Cake

Filming Locations:

Newport Pagnell Service Area, M1 Motorway, Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

£4,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$143,237 (Australia) (29 July 2005)

Gross:

$2,338,695 (USA) (12 August 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sony Pictures Classics, Marv Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS (US prints) DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The actor playing 'Trevor' was originally intended to play Morty but his Liverpool accent was a barrier.

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Goofs

Slavo and Dragan are supposed to be Serbians but they speak Romanian.

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Quotes

[first lines]
XXXX: When I was born, the world was a far simpler place. It was all just cops and robbers.

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Crazy Credits

The film lacks a traditional opening title. The title Layer Cake appears ten minutes into the film on a door that XXXX walks through.

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Connections

References Carlito's Way (1993)

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Soundtracks

"Hayling"
Written by Daniel Ormondroyd, Jon Nowell, Hafdís Huld and Jon Collyer
Published by Copyright Control
Performed by FC Kahuna
Courtesy of Skint Records

User Reviews

Slightly, but not much, more than the average Brit crime flick

Layer Cake is the latest in a long line of British crime flicks, which was started off by Guy Richie's excellent 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'. Despite claiming proudly on it's poster that this film is from the same producers as the aforementioned flick; Layer Cake lacks the exuberant fun element of Lock, Stock and although it's certainly not a dead loss; this is only a decent crime flick, as opposed to a must see. This film has been based on a book, and so as you might expect; it has rather more to say than Guy Richie usually does. The film outlines the hypocrisy and stupidity of the way that drugs and drug dealers are handled by the British government, while also delivering a streak of the age-old 'crime doesn't pay' idea, which is analysed by the way that our hero isn't able to up sticks and leave his old life of crime behind just like that. The film follows a man whose name is never mentioned. This guy has been dealing cocaine successfully for years, but wants to quit while he's still ahead. His efforts to do that are thwarted by his business contacts; as this guy can't get out if they wont let him.

The film is very slick and very glamorous, and it's portrayal of drug dealers is always done in a very positive light. This is offset by the way that the users are portrayed, but on the whole; this razzle-dazzle style that so many crime flicks go for doesn't interest me much. The downtrodden atmosphere that Lock, Stock created fit it's subject much better and is easier to relate to. Still, seeing the good-looking stars prance around glamorous settings does have it's own certain appeal. Up until about the hour mark, slight niggles aside - I was really enjoying Layer Cake. The film takes a downturn at about that point, however, when it's slightly confusing narrative used throughout the rest of the film goes into overdrive and cant really resolve itself. The ending also annoyed me, as it seemed like an attempt to be clever but came off as being more of a cop-out. Despite it's flaws, however, crime fans are bound to like this film. It has some good dialogue, it looks lovely and the way that it analyses the structure of the crime underworld is well done and, mostly, interesting.