Layer Cake – 2004 | 104mins | Thriller | Colour

Plot Synopsis

Faithfully adapted from JJ Connelly’s complex London crime novel, Layer Cake is a metaphor for the murky layers a drug dealer must pass through as he painstakingly schemes his own escape. What is revealed is a contemporary underworld where the rules have changed and there is no trust. Originally directed by Guy Ritchie, the reins were subsequently passed to Matthew Vaughn, the producer of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and Snatch (2000). Vaughn’s directorial debut is a surprisingly confident and stylish crime thriller that is worthy of admission into the already bloated sub-genre of British gangster pictures. Daniel Craig is a terrific anti-hero oozing sophisticated charisma and the supporting cast of Michael Gambon, Colm Meaney and Kenneth Cranham add extra weight to proceedings.

"X" (Daniel Craig), a successful cocaine dealer, has earned a respected place among England’s Mafia elite and plans an early retirement from the business. However, crime lord Jimmy Price (Kenneth Cranham) hands down a tough assignment: find Charlotte Ryder, the missing crack-addicted daughter of Jimmy’s old pal Eddie Temple (Michael Gambon), a powerful construction business player. Matters are complicated further by two million pounds worth of stolen ecstasy tablets, vengeful Eastern European gangsters and a whole series of double crossings.