Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3168 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-03-07
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
• Formats: PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Hindi
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 104 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
As its title suggests, Layer Cake is a crime thriller that cuts into several levels of its treacherous criminal underworld. The title is actually one character's definition of the drug-trade hierarchy, but it's also an apt metaphor for the separate layers of deception, death, and betrayal experienced by the film's unnamed protagonist, a cocaine traffic middle-man played with smooth appeal by Daniel Craig (whom you probably don't need reminding is the latest James Bond). Listed in the credits only as "XXXX," the character is trapped into doing a favor for his volatile boss, only to have tables turned by his boss's boss (Michael Gambon) in a twisting plot involving a stolen shipment of Ecstasy, a missing girl, duplicitous dealers, murderous Serbian gangsters, and a variety of lowlifes with their own deadly agendas. As adapted by J.J. Connolly (from his own novel) and directed by Matthew Vaughan (who earned his genre chops as producer of Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch), Layer Cake improves upon those earlier British gangland hits with assured pacing, intelligent plotting, and an admirable emphasis on plot-moving dialogue over routine action. Sure, it's violent (that's to be expected) and not always involving, but it's smarter than most thrillers, and Vaughan's directorial debut has a confident style that's flashy without being flamboyant. This could be the start of an impressive career. --Jeff Shannon

Synopsis
As deeply cool and urbane as its unnamed hero, LAYER CAKE follows the precise, articulate XXXX (Daniel Craig) as he manoeuvres through what he intends to be his last business deal in modern-day London. His business...Drugs. On the cusp of turning 30, XXXX has amassed a personal fortune, deftly avoiding the violence and ugliness so many others in his trade fall prey to by following a strict personal code defined by discretion and clean detachment from the products he sells. Just as XXXX is poised to cash in and get out, Jimmy Price (Kenneth Cranham), the top layer of this particular underworld cake, hands down two tasks: find Eddie Temple's (Michael Gambon) drug-addicted daughter, and unload a mass of ecstasy stolen in Amsterdam by the sloppy, loud Duke (Jamie Foreman), who is exactly the type of wannabe gangster that XXXX has spent his career avoiding. Further complicating matters is Tammy (Sienna Miller), a sexy young blond who XXXX meets in a club and can't get off his mind. First-time director Michael Vaughn (producer on SNATCH and LOCK, STOCK, AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS) brings a practised eye to the film, creating a slick, highly entertaining visual style which perfectly complements the twisting storyline. The London drug world comes to vibrant life in screenwriter J.J. Connolly's adaptation of his first novel, which retains its keen ear for slang and its eye for detail, giving LAYER CAKE a thrilling ring of authenticity. In the role of XXXX, Daniel Craig has a commanding presence, portraying a man who is so good at his job that he may never be permitted to leave it, regardless of how smart he is or how well he's planned. Like the best in the crime-thriller genre, LAYER CAKE is unpredictable, unsettling, and unforgettable.

Customer Reviews

Hope for a lot of icing as this cake dosen't taste so good
The producers of Layer Cake tried very hard to shape this standard gangster fare into something fresh, cool and original. They failed.

Matthew Vaughn who produced Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch lazily decided to produce yet another gangster flick, without Guy Ritchie, as a vehicle to move him into the mainstream as a director.

Having a proven track record in the genre, it was a safe bet the film would find an audience, however I assume he couldn't produce a film with any similarity to Lock, Stock and decided to produce this rubbish instead.

I also couldn't stomach the publicity overload for this film, which was plain perplexing. Nobody seemed to understood what a hot iron scorching the bonnet of a Range Rover has to do with anything let alone the film. Is the Range Rover parked in the street? Has someone ran an extension lead to plug in the iron to burn the paint work? It makes no sense. If you want payback who goes to the extent of running extension leads and using domestic appliances?

Sienna Miller also stars in Layer Cake but she is so generic looking I didn't even realise it was her until I spotted her name in the credits. To top it all Daniel Craig's wooden lifeless performance is yet another reason to avoid this film. Is it just me or has the guy got a massive bulbess nose.

I'm not a hater of Matthew Vaugn's films as when I was dragged to see Stardust I secretly enjoyed it. Don't tell anyone.

snore
very very boring british gangster movie that is no good and differant to countless other british gangster movies

Great show, great cast
One of Craig's better films and good to see Colm Meaney as a bad guy. Shows a side of the country that some people don't realise exists.