Finally, the British mob movie I've been thirsting for!
In the tradition of
'The Long Good Friday' and 'Get Carter',
'Layer Cake' is a British gangster flick where everybody gets fucked over, and everyone gets killed. Forgetall that Guy Ritchie, gangster comedy nonsense, I want violence, I want a movie with balls.
This movie was originally intended for Ritchie, but his career killing marriage to shemale extraodinaire: Madonna, created the opportunity for his producer: Matthew Vaughn, to have a go at the director's chair. What we get is a movie whose complex plot of double deals, and backstabbing isn't muddled with comic book baffoonery as in Ritchie's work. Vaughn is much more adept at handling this sort of material. He doesn't have to resort to the type of cheap plot explanations that Ritchie's films needed to survive. Layer Cake's complex story unravels itself with the greatest of ease. There's no need for extraneous narration to explain to the audience what's going on. The director, in this case, is decent enough that he doesn't have to resort to that shit.
The story is your basic set up: cool middle level gangster wants to get out while he's ahead. Unfortunately for him and his associates, he's in too deep and those above him are going to try to use him for everything they can get. Only his cool manner, and supreme intelligence can get him out of it. That's pretty much it. Ensue your typical cadre of British heavies beating, and shooting, and smarting off to each other. But instead of doing so with the chimpish grin of Snatch's Jason Statham (Transporter 1 and 2), we are treated to the calm and collected deadpan of Daniel Craig. This is the sort of performance Clive Owen became famous for. But unlike Owen, Craig brings a slightly warmer feel to his gangster. All this adds up to the best modern British gangster film around.
Much better than 'Gangster #1', and any of Ritchie's films, Layer Cake is an excercise in genre perfection.