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Layer Cake
A middle-ranking cocaine dealer has his plans to take early retirement scuppered. Debut feature from Guy Ritchie's regular producer Matthew Vaughn, starring Daniel Craig
Try as he might, Matthew Vaughn is unable to step out of Guy Ritchie's shadow with his directorial debut. Faithfully adapted - to the finished film's detriment - by JJ Connolly from his own novel, Layer Cake is a more restrained affair than Ritchie's hyper-stylised debut Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and his follow-up Snatch (2000). But this is not enough to distance itself from Ritchie's oeuvre. It still can't resist showing off with a belly-full of camera tricks, sketching a gallery of one-dimensional gangland thugs or choreographing designer violence to a well-timed pop song. With Lock, Stock alumni Jason Flemyng and Dexter Fletcher cast in minor roles, Vaughn invites comparison. At least he has the good sense to cast Daniel Craig as the nameless narrator (let's call him Mr X), a small-time but smart coke dealer. Craig conveys his character's streetwise savvy with aplomb, using enough rough charm to ensure we're with him rather than against him. With the material on offer, Craig does a solid job - though compared to some of his previous performances, notably in Sylvia and The Mother, this is an undemanding role. The trouble with Layer Cake - and this is another echo of Ritchie's work - is that it gets bogged down in a dense narrative. Dispensing with the archetypal rise-and-fall structure that drives most gangster films, it begins with a lengthy voiceover sequence in which Mr X introduces us to his world. Already as high as he wants to go, Mr X wants to quit the business and get out before he gets caught. Easier said than done. Above him in the gangland hierarchy, kingpin Jimmy Price (Cranham) enlists his help to find the missing daughter of an associate of his named Eddie Temple (Gambon). Meanwhile, Mr X's sidekick Gene (Meaney) has set up a deal involving a shipment of ecstasy - stolen by the unhinged JD (Foreman) from a gang of ruthless Serbians who have despatched an assassin to retrieve their goods. To complicate matters, there are further sub-plots - Mr X flirting with Tammy (Miller), flighty girlfriend to Sidney (Whishaw), one of JD's gang members; Mr X's associate Morty (Harris) brutally attacking a tramp who he knew once upon a time. It's not that the story won't hold your attention. It's just, as with Ritchie's films, you'll have trouble remembering it within minutes of leaving the cinema. At least it's less cocky and cartoon-like than its stable-mates, even if the depiction of violence is equally gratuitous. With the exception of Meaney, the support cast will barely cause you to raise an eyebrow; casting the likes of Foreman and Gambon in such roles is not exactly imaginative. Even Cranham is obvious, particularly when compared to Jonathan Glazer's use of Ian McShane in Sexy Beast. But what disappoints most, as with Ritchie's films, is the sterile atmosphere. Layer Cake provides no sense of authentic criminal life in contemporary London, neither does it attempt to draw attention to the social and political backdrop that impacts upon these characters - in the way, say, John Mackenzie's The Long Good Friday did. As pure Friday night entertainment, Layer Cake won't leave you screaming for your money back. But as an entry into the once great sub-genre that was the British gangster film, it's of minor interest. Verdict Straining to deliver a more adult gangster film than Guy Ritchie has managed, Vaughn never achieves anything more than superficial story overburdened with plot. As a result, Layer Cake is like a stylised episode of 'Minder'. |
