Layer Cake (film)

Infobox_Film
name=Layer Cake


imdb_id= 0375912
writer=Novel & Screenplay:
J. J. Connolly
starring=Daniel Craig
Sienna Miller
Colm Meaney
Kenneth Cranham
George Harris
Jamie Foreman
Michael Gambon
director=Matthew Vaughn
producer=Adam Bohling
Stephen Marks
David Reid
Matthew Vaughn
music=Lisa Gerrard
Ilan Eshkeri
cinematography=Ben Davis
editing=John Harris
distributor=Sony Pictures Classics
country of origin= United Kingdom
released=2004
runtime=105 min.
language=English
awards = Empire Award for best British Director
budget=4,000,000 GBP

"Layer Cake" is a 2004 British gangster thriller, directed by Matthew Vaughn. It is based on a novel of the same name by J. J. Connolly.

The title refers to the human social strata, especially in the British crime underworld, as well as the numerous plot layers in the film. "The Layer Cake is a metaphor for different levels of British society, whether it's the crimeworld or anything else", says director Matthew Vaughn. "The movie’s about showing howdrugs are everywhere and it doesn’t matter who or where you are, you’re only one person awayfrom drugs, scoring drugs or being involved with criminals. There's a speech at the end of thefilm where Temple uses Layer Cake as a metaphor for life and how you go up and up and upfrom one layer of the cake and to the next."

Plot

The film centers around an unnamed cocaine dealer in the center of London played by Daniel Craig (known in the credits as XXXX or Mr. X as referred to in the movie). Craig's character has established a successful business buying, cutting and selling cocaine by using intelligence and self-control to avoid the largesses and gangster behaviors associated with the business. Having made his fortune through hard work and great care, he plans to retire from the drug industry for good. However, X's boss, Jimmy Price (Kenneth Cranham) sends him to track down the teenage daughter (Nathalie Lunghi) of his associate, Eddie Temple (Michael Gambon), who has fled a rehabilitation center with her drug addicted boyfriend. In reality, X is being sent to kidnap the daughter in an attempt to force Temple to retrieve £13 million Price had invested in a mine operation near Timbuktu. However, as a Communist coup takes place in the country their investment becomes worthless and Price informs Temple he had invested most of his money in the venture. Temple's incredulous reaction makes Price believe he has been manipulated, and he plans to use Temple's daughter as leverage to force Temple to get his money back. Price also orders Mr X to broker and organize the purchase and distribution of 1 million ecstasy tablets from a gangster named The Duke. The fact they had been stolen from a gang of Serbian war criminals feared throughout the criminal community is not mentioned at first. Price believes that either Temple's skilled mercenaries or a Serbian hitman connected to the gang will kill X, and perhaps the return his lost money.

More trouble ensues for Mr X when he finds out who Price really works for; X's associate, Morty (George Harris) brutally retaliates against a former associate in a filled restaurant; part of the Duke's gang mysteriously disappears, and the ruthless Temple involves himself in the already bungled ecstasy deal.

In the last scene of the film, having escaped the drug world and its danger, X is celebrating his escape when he is shot on the front steps of the country club by the Duke's dim-witted nephew for stealing his girlfriend, Tammy (Sienna Miller), and the protagonist's fate is left ambiguous.

Cast

Reception

"Layer Cake" received mostly positive reviews, with an 80% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

equel

J. J. Connolly and Matthew Vaughn have both given interviews stating that Connolly is currently when writing a sequel to "Layer Cake". Vaughn said, "The concept of the novel is that he moves to the Caribbean" and " [he and Morty] take over the Caribbean drug business." [http://www.cinecon.com/news.php?id=0505112] Daniel Craig stated in an interview that if the new novel is adapted into a film, he'll only be interested in reprising his role if Vaughn directs.

External links

* [http://www.sonypictures.co.uk/movies/layercake/ Official Site]
*
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2004/09/17/matthew_vaughn_layer_cake_interview.shtml BBC interview with Matthew Vaughn]
* [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/layer_cake/ Reviews via Rotten Tomatoes]