Layer Cake (film)
| Layer Cake | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Directed by | Matthew Vaughn |
| Produced by | Matthew Vaughn Adam Bohling Stephen Marks David Reid |
| Written by | Novel and screenplay: J. J. Connolly |
| Starring | Daniel Craig Colm Meaney Kenneth Cranham George Harris Jamie Foreman Sienna Miller Michael Gambon Marcel Iureş |
| Music by | Lisa Gerrard Ilan Eshkeri |
| Cinematography | Ben Davis |
| Editing by | Jon Harris |
| Studio | Marv |
| Distributed by | Sony Pictures Classics (United States) Columbia Pictures (United Kingdom) |
| Release date(s) | 1 October, 2004 (UK) 10 June, 2005 |
| Running time | 104 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English Romanian |
| Budget | £4,000,000 |
| Box office | $11,850,214 (worldwide) |
Layer Cake (stylised as L4YER CAKƐ on, for example, promotional posters and DVD artwork) is a 2004 British crime thriller produced and directed by Matthew Vaughn, in his directorial debut. It is based on the novel Layer Cake by J. J. Connolly.
The title refers to the human social strata, especially in the British criminal underworld, as well as the numerous plot layers in the film. In recent times, the movie has achieved cult status.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The unnamed chief protagonist (Daniel Craig), identified in the closing credits only as XXXX, has established a successful business in London buying, cutting, and selling cocaine while avoiding the largesse and gangster behaviour associated with drug dealing. Having made his fortune, he plans to retire from the business for good.
X's powerful supplier, Jimmy Price (Kenneth Cranham) sends him to track down Charlie, the teenage daughter of Price's associate, Eddie Temple (Michael Gambon). Charlie has fled a rehabilitation centre with her drug-addicted boyfriend. In reality, but not yet known, X is being sent to kidnap Charlie to help Jimmy blackmail Temple over a bad investment.
At the same time, Price instructs X to organize the purchase and distribution of one million ecstasy tablets from a gangster named The Duke (Jamie Foreman). Unbeknownst to X, the pills have been stolen from a gang of Serbian war criminals in Holland. Jimmy has found out about X's plans to retire, and believes that either the Serbian gang or Eddie Temple's mercenaries will kill X, allowing him to recover some of his losses. The accountant used by X has stolen his money, having been working for Price. Meanwhile, X encounters The Duke's idiotic nephew, Sidney (Ben Whishaw) at a bar, and becomes attracted to Sidney's bored girlfriend Tammy (Sienna Miller).
X's world gradually unravels as he discovers Jimmy Price is informing for the police; X's associate, Morty (George Harris) goes into hiding after brutally beating and scalding a former associate with boiling tea in a cafe; the Duke and his gang mysteriously disappear; and the ruthless Eddie Temple involves himself in the already bungled ecstasy deal.
X devises an elaborate scam to play his various adversaries off against one another and ends up in the clear with most of his enemies dead, even after Temple steals the Ecstasy by withholding all payment other than a lifetime membership to the exclusive Stoke Park Club. Afterwards, Trevor and Shanks lead an armed assault on Temple's associates, stealing the ecstasy from them. X sticks to his original plan to retire, but as he and Tammy leave a celebratory lunch with his associates, he is shot on the front steps of the country house restaurant by Sidney who remarks "sorry" in an apologetic manner as he drops the gun and flees. X lies bleeding on the steps, his fate unknown.
[edit] Cast
- Daniel Craig as XXXX
- Colm Meaney as Gene
- Kenneth Cranham as Jimmy Price
- George Harris as Morty
- Jamie Foreman as The Duke
- Sienna Miller as Tammy
- Michael Gambon as Eddie Temple
- Marcel Iureş as Slavo
- Tom Hardy as Clarkie
- Tamer Hassan as Terry
- Ben Whishaw as Sidney
- Burn Gorman as Gazza
- Sally Hawkins as Slasher
- Dexter Fletcher as Cody
- Steve John Shepherd as Tiptoes
- Louis Emerick as Trevor
- Stephen Walters as Shanks
- Paul Orchard as Lucky
- Dragan Mićanović as Dragan
- Nick Thomas-Webster as Dragan's henchman
- Nathalie Lunghi as Charlie
- Jason Flemyng as Crazy Larry
[edit] Soundtrack
The soundtrack from Layer Cake is composed of 14 tracks.
- "Hayling" - FC Kahuna
- "Opening" - Ilan Eshkeri and Steve McLaughlin
- "She Sells Sanctuary" - The Cult
- "Can't Get Blue Monday Out of My Head" (Original Radio Edit) - Kylie Minogue
- "You Got the Love" (Original bootleg radio mix) - The Source feat. Candi Staton
- "Drive to the Boatyard" - Ilan Eshkeri
- "Junky Fight" - Lisa Gerrard
- "Making Plans for Nigel" - XTC
- "Ordinary World" - Duran Duran
- "Ruthless Gravity" - Craig Armstrong
- "Four to the Floor" (Soulsavers Mix) - Starsailor
- "Drive To The Warehouse" - Ilan Eshkeri and Lisa Gerrard
- "Aria" (Layer Cake Speech) - Lisa Gerrard with Michael Gambon
- "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" - Joe Cocker
The Rolling Stones song "Gimme Shelter" also features in the film but does not appear on the soundtrack album.
[edit] Reception
[edit] Box office performance
| Film | Release date | Box office revenue | Box office ranking | Budget | Reference | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Worldwide | United States | United States | International | Worldwide | All time United States | All time worldwide | |||
| Layer Cake | May 2005 | May 2005 | $2,339,957 | $9,510,257 | $11,850,214 | #5,288 | Unknown | $6,500,000[1] | [2] |
[edit] Critical reception
| Film | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic | Entertainment Weekly | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Critics | Top Critics | Audience | |||
| Layer Cake | 81% (133 reviews)[3] | 84% (31 reviews)[4] | 83% (135,446 reviews)[5] | 73/100 (30 reviews)[6] | A[7] |
Layer Cake received positive reviews, with an 81% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[8] The film has an average score of 73 based on 30 reviews on Metacritic.[9]
Daniel Craig's starring role in the film has been cited as the performance that led to his high-profile casting as James Bond.[10]
[edit] References
- ^ "Layer Cake (2005)". the-numbers. http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2005/LCAKE.php. Retrieved 2011-08-18.
- ^ "Layer Cake (2005)". Box Office Mojo. http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=layercake.htm. Retrieved 2011-08-18.
- ^ "Layer Cake". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/layer_cake/. Retrieved 2011-08-18.
- ^ "Layer Cake". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/layer_cake/. Retrieved 2011-08-18.
- ^ "Layer Cake". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/layer_cake/. Retrieved 2011-08-18.
- ^ "Layer Cake". Metacritic. CBS. http://www.metacritic.com/movie/layer-cake. Retrieved 2011-08-18.
- ^ "Layer Cake". Entertainment Weekly. 2005-05-11. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1060102,00.html. Retrieved 2011-08-18.
- ^ Rotten Tomatoes - Layer Cake
- ^ Metacritic - Layer Cake
- ^ Daniel Craig's Role As James Bond Allowed Him To Become A 'Fool' - Movie News Story | MTV Movie News
[edit] External links
 |
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Layer Cake |
- Official website
- Layer Cake at the Internet Movie Database
- Layer Cake at Rotten Tomatoes
- Layer Cake at AllRovi
- Layer Cake at Box Office Mojo
- BBC interview with Matthew Vaughn
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- British films
- 2004 films
- 2000s crime films
- British crime films
- English-language films
- Romanian-language films
- Crime drama films
- Directorial debut films
- Films about drugs
- Films based on novels
- Films set in the Netherlands
- Films shot anamorphically
- Gangster films
- Heist films
- Columbia Pictures films
- Sony Pictures Classics films
