Holy shit! – If you haven’t seen Layer Cake: here are some reasons you should right now!
Daniel Craig: Mr Craig is fast becoming The Man of The Moment – “Layer Cake” was released a whole year before the announcement the he was to be the next James Bond (watch for the subtle Bond reference in LC…) But Craig has been storming all over the screens since the early nineties – earning well deserved recognition for his memorable performance as Geordie in “Our Friends in the North” (this also opened gates for Christopher Eccleston, & Mark Strong)
Highlights of Craig’s career so far are “Road to Perdition” , “Sylvia” , “Enduring Love” “Munich” “Casino Royal” all made within a short 5 years – this guy is no slouch, and was the far most deserving candidate to take the Bond baton (also working on I, Lucifer, & Bond 22.) He is the bollocks.
Michael Gambon: Put Simply – if you Don’t like Michael Gambon, you are dead to me. I first came across him in “The Singing Detective” (watch it, no…. seriously, watch it….) Here he is the world weary, bollock breaking underworld boss that everyone would kill to work for. Every word uttered is poetry, spoken with a slightly broken cockney voice that is not in any way put on – Gambon is a joy to behold on screen.
Stephen Walters: Until now, people will have seen Stephen Walters in small British Soap parts, or might recognise him for small, but worthy film parts in “51st State” or the awful Vinnie Jones remake of “The Mean Machine”. (also Guy Richie’s “Revolver, & most recently “Hannibal Rising”).
But the two most memorable parts he has played so far are as Dr. Vaughan in the criminally overlooked channel 4 “Oz” - like masterpiece “Buried” – subtle, steady, reserved and fucking excellent. And, of course, playing Shanks in Layer Cake. Stephen might only be on screen for roughly six minutes, yet his opening gambit sets the stage for some of the most excellent acting in recent history – His performance, to be frank, raises the bar on acting the part of affected , sharp “do not fuck with me” characters that are almost always hammed up…..
Supporting Cast:
Tamer Hassan (Football Factory , The Business, The Calcium Kid)
Dexter Fletcher ( Bugsy Malone, Rachel Papers, Lock Stock)
Kenneth Cranham (Shine ON Harvey Moon, Shiner, just about everything)
Jason Flemyng (for about 30 wonderful seconds….)
& Of course Sienna Miller (Who you may have heard of?.)
The Script:
J.J. Connolly wrote Layer Cake originally in Novel form, and then went on to write the Screenplay;
The novel is about a successful cocaine dealer who has earned a respected place among England’s Mafia elite and plans an early retirement from the business.
Writing a book, and then transferring your baby from page to screen is always a painful affair – But this is a pure work of enjoyment, love of the genre, and a knowing wink to all those other films that walk straight through the clichés’ and fucks around with them.
The Direction:
Not intentionally seventh on the list, Matthew Vaughn ’s Direction is pretty close to flawless. You may not know that he Produced Guy Ritchie’s “Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels”, “Snatch” & “Mean Machine”… (two out of three aint bad).
Richie was originally touted to take the helm of Layer cake, but bowed out, so Vaughn took over. I think this might well be the best of a line of “London Underworld” Genre that Lock Stock kicked off in 1998. Yes, Lock stock was well executed, yes Snatch made good use of inter-cutting to take what was essentially a “caper” movie and make it something a bit more “zany”, but Vaughn’s Layer cake takes essentially an excellent story, and makes it just that bit better. He may have had the Midas touch as a Producer, making his mark on British Cinema, (and giving us Vinnie Jones) toward the late 1990’s and earl 2000’s – but as a Director, he’s more than proving he can fight above his weight –
There’s nothing “wacky” or “Zany” about Layer Cake – it’s just, bloody good.
The Music:
There’s no Ocean Colour Scene, Paul Weller, Robbie Williams, or lame 90’s covers here – The music really does take the film to another level: There’s none of that “Mockney” self conscious row here – (you can buy it at http://www.amazon.co.uk/ )
A mixture of Chill Beats and some old classic tunes you’ve forgotten you know – the soundtrack alone is quality stuff, added to the mocing picture, well……..
If you’re at all interested in true “British Crime Movies”, that are as good as The Long Good Friday, Monia Lisa, Get Carter, The Italian Job, then you should definitely add this to your list: if that’s not really you’re bag, then you’re probably not reading this anyway.
