Layer Cake (2004)
The story of mid-level gangster XXXX (Daniel Craig) is a twisted, cautionary tale about the difficult life of a modern criminal.
It’s a grittier Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) or Snatch (2000). This makes perfect sense when you learn director Mathew Vaughn produced the earlier films.
Life often refuses to conform to the best of plans. For the majority of us this means running ten minutes late to work, but for violent criminals, it means death.
Aloof, inscrutable, and charming, Daniel Craig is a modern-day Lee Marvin. These qualities have served him well as the 21st century James Bond.
I’m a Colm Meaney fan, primarily because I loved his work as Miles O’Brien. XXXX’s fellow criminal Gene is his best non-Trek role.
The first line in Michael Gambon’s obituary will be Albus Dumbledore. This is not a bad thing, but it will overshadow his excellent work as gangster Eddie Temple here, and in The Singing Detective (1986), The Cook, the Thief, his Wife, and her Lover (1989), and Gosford Park (2001). Gambon possesses a distinct delivery which makes you think he’s making fun of the person he’s talking to, even if no one else is aware of the joke.
This is a decent British crime caper, but there are too many twists and double crosses. If it were a comedy, the exaggerated characters and outlandish situations might work, but played straight it’s too much.