Layer Cake

I was expecting good things and wasn't disappointed. It's been a while since I saw a good British gangster film. Layer Cake filled the void nicely. The acting was good, script was tight and the film was well cast. People I had not seen before were well used in their characters. The film starts out nice and simple but as it progreses it gets quite deep and twisted. I was most surprised by Colm Meaney, I've ever only known him in Startrek. But was superbly cast and had a quite menacing air about him. LC has a few laughs for those with a more twisted sense of humour, it's not obvious comedy either and the film never plays for laughs. Very different to Lock Stock and Snatch. The director did well to move out from Guy Ritchie and make a serious film.

This is a clever drug dealer movie set in the UK. It starts out with the main character (XXXX) and narrator cheerfully extolling the virtues of the drug industry when you are careful and organised like he is. He is about to retire with a nice little fortune. Then it all starts to go wrong, one thing after another as layers are added to the plot. Sometimes it seems as if the plot is too complex and there are two dangers, one of leaving the audience behind and two leaving gaping holes in the plot. Still the humour and action set pieces are enough to pull it through. It is not as good as Snatch or Lock, Stock etc but is original enough to stand on its own right. Worth a look.

A drug dealer's plan to retire is put on hold when his boss asks him take on a couple of tough assignments. Vaughn, the producer of "Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels" and "Snatch" tries his hand at directing but should have left the job to Guy Ritchie. Vaughn tries to be slick but is annoying, stressing style over substance and reveling in gratuitous violence. Not that the substance is all that interesting anyway. The plot is hopelessly convoluted with too many uninteresting characters that are hard to keep track of. There are many things left unexplained. Craig plays the antithesis of Bond here, a cowardly fellow who hates guns and tries to run when thing get hot.