Review of Layer Cake

Not too rich, not too light

This was the film many people were recommending when Daniel Craig's selection as the new James Bond was met with so much loud, nerdy resistance. What those making the recommendation knew was that Layer Cake reveals Craig's capacity for being at turns very charming and very menacing. It also hints at the vulnerability that seems set to become the hallmark of Craig's Bond. But we are not talking about James Bond. In Layer Cake Craig stars as a nameless and successful drug dealer. He is a member of a large syndicate, but maintains a respectable facade as a real estate professional. Though making a good living from crime, he has aspirations to get out of the game. Soon. When the head of his syndicate asks for a favour in finding a colleague's daughter, he obliges in the hopes that doing so will ease his transition out of the business. THEN SHIT GETS REAL.

Layer Cake is another British crime film that might very well have not been made without Guy Ritchie's prior success. His fingerprints are all over this film, from sound design to recycled actors. Luckily director Matthew Vaughn avoids Ritchie's more irritating flourishes. It is a fairly standard crime drama aside the convoluted plot that has become standard in the Tarantinoverse. I did not find the story too confusing or overwrought, only tweeked enough to hold my attention over 105 minutes, a length that might be overreaching for a straight crime picture of similar scale. Layer Cake is worth checking out, but not mandatory viewing.

I hate thinking of titles for these posts more than anything in life.

Aaron.
whatsaninternet.blogspot.com

Posted on 12/29/07 by: Aaron 03:13 PM