Layer Cake (2005)

Just about everyone in this movie could walk out of it and have a decent movie built solely around them. With that said, I think there were a few too many characters. I know this is the whole point of the "layer cake" but I would have preferred that there be about one less guy at the top. Constantly trading up to bigger bosses deflected the focus from the peril. On moment a guy is the big cheese and the next he isn't. The dreaded Serbs aren't all they are cracked up to be, which was a real shame. Still, there are few films as slick as Layer Cake.

This is just another of those continually stupid movies of continually Beavis and Butthead nonsense that the maniacs who make such movies feel powerful about, with the Bundy family fans being their goofy sheep and praising.There's no plot here. It's just people going through a contrived script by someone who doesn't know how to write, but is eager to be one of the Nazi propaganda machine.It's really just an excuse to kill the dark hair woman as often as possible, which is the only real goal of this movie, Nazi propaganda and brainwashing. That's it. Anyone who says it is anything more is missing the point of this chick flick. It's meant to depress young men, period. It's the same Hollywood hate formula we see over and over. New names are added to the mix of the demonic Nazi machine, and it's obvious the writer and director idolize Adolf Hitler, and want to keep his spirit alive. To be honest, this demonic spirit was in effect long before Hitler. He was just another part of it. It's not natural, but these human monsters possessed by the Nazi demon want to keep preaching that it is.The movie is just another bit of Hollywood Nazi preaching, and overkill. Fortunately, the script is so ridiculous that it can't convert anyone with an IQ over 51.33, but that still leaves a lot of fans. True, they're all Beavis, Butthead, Al Bundy, Peg Bundy, and the like, but they are too many.

I'm a big fan of Guy Ritchie's British gangster films LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS and, especially, SNATCH, so when I saw this Daniel Craig-starrer was directed by the guy who produced those two films, I thought I'd check it out. Sadly, LAYER CAKE is a dull and derivative piece of work that shows what happens when film-makers churn out familiar, predictable movies in a bid to cash-in on the perceived current popularity of the genre. It happened with Japanese long-haired ghost girl movies, and it happened with British gangster movies. LAYER CAKE contains absolutely nothing we haven't seen before and it's a case of style over substance. Ritchie's films provide a liberal inspiration, as does Tarantino's PULP FICTION, but the difference is that LAYER CAKE has no heart and the style ain't that great, either.Things begin on a bad foot with some truly atrocious comedy from some 'chav'-type gangsters and after a while the story begins for real. Basically, it involves Daniel Craig and his criminal buddies getting involved with stolen drugs and rival gangsters, and it all gets very complicated and not very interesting. This might well have been the reason Craig became Bond, because his acting's great and the best thing in this film, but his character is unlikeable and doesn't get a chance to be developed enough. Elsewhere, the supporting actors seem to be just going through the ropes: Michael Gambon and Kenneth Cranham as older generation gangsters, Colm Meaney as yet ANOTHER shouty-sweary-sweaty guy (basically THE SAME as the character he played in CON AIR), Sienna Miller as a dumb bimbo and others besides.Granted, the film does have a few stand-out moments of genuine goodness; the sniper scene is one of these. There are some other memorable moments, usually the violent bits, a couple involving hot tea and an iron, but these are mere minutes in what seems like a very long film. The 'twist' ending is ripped straight out of CARLITO'S WAY and really was the final insult for this viewer. LAYER CAKE is a dumb, wannabe film and fans of the genre should stick with SNATCH.

.. you've got two of the most captivating people on the planet.. and you only make use of one of the two... not sufficient. When she is on-screen she is way dynamic.. but look back this entire film and add up the scant few minutes she's there, it's lacking. The script gives little to capture. This is an actor driven production.. and although there are several very good cameo roles, they're not enough to carry the full production. No question, it was not deemed to be a male/ female story-line.. but with such two special actors, the viewing audience feels as if it's been cheated. With just a bit of deliberate forethought it could have been so much more.