LAYER CAKE
Directed by: Matthew Vaughn.
Produced by: Adam Bohling, David Reid & Matthew Vaughn.
Written by: J.J. Connolly, based on his novel.
Director of Photography: Ben Davis.
Edited by: Jon Harris.
Music by: Lisa Gerrard & Ilan Eshkeri.
Released by: Sony Pictures Classics.
Country of Origin: UK. 104 min. Rated: R.
With: Daniel Craig, Colm Meaney, Kenneth Cranham, George Harris, Jamie Foreman, Sienna Miller & Michael Gambon.

With its gritty violence, cheeky cynicism and constant twists and turns, there isn't much to distinguish Layer Cake from other British gangster films of the last decade. An unnamed drug dealer (Daniel Craig) is caught in the struggle between high-class crook Eddie Temple (Michael Gambon) and a sleazy working-class hood, The Duke (Jamie Foreman). The film posits that drugs are everywhere, and all the different classes that make up the layer cake of British society are involved.

Daniel Craig gives a confident performance, and George Harris and Colm Meaney, who play his two comrades Morty and Gene, are well developed; the actors show many different sides of their characters. And naturally, the phenomenally entertaining Michael Gambon electrifies every scene he's in.

It should come as no surprise that director Matthew Vaughn was the producer on Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and its follow up, Snatch. Layer Cake is at its best during its moments of wit, such as the opening scene where Craig's character imagines a pharmacy of the future where all drugs are legal. "Sooner or later they'll realize how much money is in it," he theorizes. The deadly serious moments, which mostly consist of long shots of Craig's brooding face, are less effective. It doesn't help that they are set to the otherworldly music of Lisa Gerrard and Ilan Eshkeri. The score is more appropriate for something like Gladiator, but here seems ludicrously out of place. Those who enjoy the slick irony of British crime films will find much to like here, but others who are looking for a more innovative entry into the genre will more than likely find the usual wheeling and dealing and double-crossing somewhat tiresome. Rob Glidden
May 13, 2005