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, Sienna Miller, Michael Gambon

2 wins & 9 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 (as Natalie Lunghi)

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 Serbian gang 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:

nipples visible through clothing | no panties | scantily clad female | panties | lingerie | 

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Genres:

Action | 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 [France] Sony Pictures Classics [United States]

Country:

UK

Language:

English Romanian

Release Date:

3 June 2005 (USA)

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:

£1,090,561 (United Kingdom), 3 October 2004, Limited Release

Opening Weekend USA:

$81,706, 15 May 2005, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$2,338,695, 14 August 2005

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$11,850,214, 18 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

Colm Meaney would later star opposite Daniel Craig's Quantum of Solace (2009) co-star Gemma Arterton in A Deal Is a Deal (2008).

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Goofs

Throughout the film, XXXX makes it clear that he hates guns and violence. Yet, when he hears the recording of Jimmy talking to a police officer about Gene and himself, he takes upon himself to kill Jimmy. This is irrational since it would have been easier and smarter to let Gene and Morty hear the recording and discuss how Jimmy should be silenced.

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Quotes

Morty: Why did you keep the gun?
Gene: I know it sounds silly now, but it was my favorite.
Morty: You better not let the other guns know you have a favorite.

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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

Referenced in Dumb Movie Ways to Die (2013)

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Soundtracks

Making Plans for Nigel
Written by Colin Moulding
Published by EMI Music Publishing Ltd
Performed by XTC
Licensed courtesy of Virgin Records Ltd

User Reviews

Chameleon Craig Does a Steve McQueen in Brutal But Sleek Thriller

After an art house release everywhere else in the civilized world, LAYER CAKE (LC) unexpectedly premiered in our area, the Lehigh Valley, at the $4 theater in Easton (this joint started as a second-run theater, but it's been getting some acclaimed imports and indies lately, too. Somebody there is a good programmer!). This British import, adapted by J.J. Connolly from his novel, is a taut crime drama that moves with the sleek menace of a tiger. Imagine THE BIG SLEEP with an ever-so-slightly more coherent plot and, as its protagonist, a prosperous, wily drug dealer looking to retire after one last score instead of tough but noble private eye Philip Marlowe. Our hero's problem is that he's a careful, calculating businessman in a dicey business where he's surrounded by loose cannons who shoot, stab, or punch first and ask questions later. Director Matthew Vaughn has been best known as Guy Ritchie's producer, but in his directorial debut Vaughn is like Martin Scorsese to Ritchie's Barry Sonnenfeld (that's meant as a compliment to all concerned, I assure you). It helps that Vaughn gets excellent performances from Daniel Craig as our cool but in-over-his-head unnamed antihero (usually films and books that refuse to name their main character strike me as trying too hard to be clever, but it works here), Michael Gambon nearly stealing the show as a cultured but ruthless narcotics kingpin, Colm Meaney and THE INTERPRETER's George Harris as our protagonist's partners in crime, and many folks from Guy Ritchie's films. Sienna Miller doesn't get to do much beyond being eye candy, but she's tasty eye candy indeed. I'm as heterosexual a gal as they come, but after seeing lithe, leggy Miller strip down to black lingerie and garters, I couldn't help thinking, "That Jude Law is one lucky guy!" :-) One of the things I liked about LC is that the protagonist, while thoughtful and competent, is never quite as clever as he thinks he is; somehow everybody manages to be one step ahead of him, if only because they're all so damned unpredictable. Though I've only seen Daniel Craig in three of his many films (the other two were THE ROAD TO PERDITION and THE JACKET), he's clearly one of those actors who never looks or sounds the same from role to role, so if he does indeed end up being Pierce Brosnan's successor as James Bond as rumored, it'll be interesting to see how he fares playing the same character in more than one film! :-) In any case, Craig certainly lives up to the "new Steve McQueen" rep that LC has garnered him. I look forward to seeing what he'll do next!