Layer Cake

I liked LAYER CAKE from the very beginning, but the ending made me love it.

LAYER CAKE, written by J.J. Connolly, directed by Matthew Vaughn, and starring Daniel Craig, works from an ancient formula. You know the one: the drug dealer / jewel thief / pickinick basket swiper wants to get out of the game, but first must make One Last Score. So, how does LAYER CAKE rise above its formula? It doesn't, really. Rather, the movie executes it so well that one can't help but be caught up in the twists, turns, doublecrosses, and mounting desperation Daniel Craig's dealer feels as he tries to outsmart the dangerous idiots who surround him.

I've never seen Daniel Craig before, but let me tell you: this guy's got it. I believed that this guy could could be simultaneously brilliant and stupid. I believed that he was a thinker, a leader, the kind of guy who could survive the drug trade well into his thirties. Craig doesn't have to carry the entire movie, however. The supporting cast (featuring Colm Meaney, Michael Gambon, & Sienna Miller) is spot-on, the music's note-perfect, the editing is great (look for some creative and fun transitions), and the dialogue's fun to listen to.

And the ending, oh that ending. Pow! What a winner.