The Movie that Turned Daniel Craig into James Bond
(On a side note, I just want to mention that I opted for the UK version of the trailer because it was far more creatively made than the US version, revealed less of the plot and just to point out what they can get away with in advertising over there.)
Layer Cake is just that sort breath of fresh air the crime genre can use. It's got all the stuff I wish American filmmakers would put in gangster movies more often. There's the snappy one liners, the characters constantly trying to out do each other, and the fact that anybody who's naive enough to think he's a big shot usually gets cut down... brutally.
The film stars Daniel Craig as a drug dealer named... um... Okay, so apparently I'm not smart enough to figure that out. Anyway, he rigidly abides by a set of rules that ensures that he stays out of trouble with the law. He keeps a low profile, doesn't try to make a name for himself, and has every intention of getting out of the job early.
His plan seems to be working well, until his boss calls him up and says he wants Daniel Craig to find one of his associate's daughter who's gone missing. On top of this, a group of idiot wannabes heisted a large supply of ecstasy pills from an Eastern European war criminal, claiming to be Daniel Craig's associates, so he's got to sort things out to keep his good name alive.
The film is directed by Matthew Vaughn, who previously produced Guy Ritchie's hits Lock, Stock... and Snatch, and who would also go on to write and direct Stardust (another movie I expect to cover later). Unlike Ritchie's films, which are essentially comedies where everybody has a gun, Layer Cake is a bit more serious in tone.
That's not to say this is some sort of gravely serious, gritty crime drama. There's plenty of humor, it just tends to be a bit quirkier. For example, one scene has Daniel Craig's character engaging in a romantic tryst with a woman played by Sienna Miller. She gets him riled up then makes him wait while she changes into something a bit more enticing. Just before she's ready to make her grand entrance, he is quietly abducted by thugs.
Then of course there's what one of my friends described as the best directed scene involving a man getting beaten senseless, scored to Duran Duran's "Ordinary World." You really have to see that for yourself.
The film does suffer a few drawbacks. Everybody speaks with pretty heavy British accents, making the dialogue a bit hard to follow on occasion. This wouldn't be so problematic if everybody in the movie weren't constantly trying to outwit each other. There are a few instances where it was clear that somebody just pulled an impressive con over somebody else, but I couldn't tell exactly what had just happened. The accents and plot twists only result in mild confusion, and with the overall cleverness of the movie, you're not likely to care too much.
It's also worth noting that this is pretty much the movie that secured Daniel Craig's role as the new James Bond, and it's easy to see why. He portrays his character in this movie with the sort of aggressive coldness he would later use to save the Bond franchise from the travesty that was Die Another Day, though in Layer Cake, he does considerably less ass kicking. In fact, the first time he picks up a gun, he kind of makes a fool of himself.
If you do decide to check it out (which you should), I should also mention that this movie seems to be one of those ones that Best Buy periodically puts on sale for $5 or less, meaning that it's just as cheap to own it as it is to rent it. In that case, buy it right away. Odds are, this movie is going to find its way into the rotation of movies you watch over and over again anyway.
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