'Layer Cake' follows in the tradition of sharp English drugs/gangster flicks like 'Trainspotting' and 'Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels.' Initially, one might ask what remains to be added to this genre, but 'Layer Cake' proves itself worthy if not entirely original by presenting a more mature, less frenetic, and occasionally surprising take on the lives of dealers trying to make the big score.
Daniel Craig's 'X' is a refreshing change from the typical gangster--more an urban sophisticate than a swaggering player, he prefers a low profile, and observes (in voice-over dialog well written enough to compensate for the overuse of the device in this sort of picture) that drugs are just good business, and if one can stay removed from the trappings of the culture, a great way to retire before 40. Of course, there would be no film if the hero were to avoid the inevitable complications, which arrive with such swiftness that you can almost see X's head spinning. He's implicated in the theft of a large supply of ecstasy; his boss forces him to search for the wayward daughter of a fellow mobster; he learns that he is being pursued by a Serbian hit-man who specializes in presenting his victims' heads to his clients; he finds himself falling for an unstable thug's girlfriend--all on the eve of his long-planned retirement from the business.
Things go wrong for X so fast and in so many ways that it's often hard to follow the film's direction, and, as is the case with 'Trainspotting' and 'Lock, Stock,' the rapid-fire cockney gangster dialog can be hard to follow for untrained American ears. But the film is redeemed by Craig's superb performance as a man who has perfected the art of control only to see all of his walls and pretenses leveled in the course of just a few days. Particularly affecting is the scene in which X copes with the after-effects of having committed murder for the first time--haunting, powerful stuff, and certainly unusual in a genre where the characters generally kill indiscriminately and without conscience.
In a sense, too much happens too fast--some of the plot lines seem extraneous, especially X's affair with the girlfriend (Sienna Miller), which might be viewed as an excuse to give the character the necessary love interest and show us a sexy girl in lingerie. But, altogether, the many diverging plots converge, and we are left with a coherent narrative spun out of a cascade of disorder and surprise. It's not perfect, but 'Layer Cake' is a worthy addition to the gangster thriller genre, giving us enough of what we expect along with a few surprises to keep it from seeming derivative.
Daniel Craig's 'X' is a refreshing change from the typical gangster--more an urban sophisticate than a swaggering player, he prefers a low profile, and observes (in voice-over dialog well written enough to compensate for the overuse of the device in this sort of picture) that drugs are just good business, and if one can stay removed from the trappings of the culture, a great way to retire before 40. Of course, there would be no film if the hero were to avoid the inevitable complications, which arrive with such swiftness that you can almost see X's head spinning. He's implicated in the theft of a large supply of ecstasy; his boss forces him to search for the wayward daughter of a fellow mobster; he learns that he is being pursued by a Serbian hit-man who specializes in presenting his victims' heads to his clients; he finds himself falling for an unstable thug's girlfriend--all on the eve of his long-planned retirement from the business.
Things go wrong for X so fast and in so many ways that it's often hard to follow the film's direction, and, as is the case with 'Trainspotting' and 'Lock, Stock,' the rapid-fire cockney gangster dialog can be hard to follow for untrained American ears. But the film is redeemed by Craig's superb performance as a man who has perfected the art of control only to see all of his walls and pretenses leveled in the course of just a few days. Particularly affecting is the scene in which X copes with the after-effects of having committed murder for the first time--haunting, powerful stuff, and certainly unusual in a genre where the characters generally kill indiscriminately and without conscience.
In a sense, too much happens too fast--some of the plot lines seem extraneous, especially X's affair with the girlfriend (Sienna Miller), which might be viewed as an excuse to give the character the necessary love interest and show us a sexy girl in lingerie. But, altogether, the many diverging plots converge, and we are left with a coherent narrative spun out of a cascade of disorder and surprise. It's not perfect, but 'Layer Cake' is a worthy addition to the gangster thriller genre, giving us enough of what we expect along with a few surprises to keep it from seeming derivative.