From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Layer Cake
Directed by	Matthew Vaughn
Produced by	Adam Bohling Stephen Marks David Reid Matthew Vaughn
Written by	Novel & Screenplay: J.J. Connolly
Starring	Daniel Craig Sienna Miller Colm Meaney Kenneth Cranham George Harris Jamie Foreman Michael Gambon
Music by	Lisa Gerrard Ilan Eshkeri
Cinematography	Ben Davis
Editing by	John Harris
Distributed by	Sony Pictures Classics
Release date(s)	2004
Running time	105 min.
Language	English
Budget	4,000,000 GBP
IMDb profile

Layer Cake (also spelled L4YER CAKE) is a 2004 British gangster thriller, directed by Matthew Vaughn. It is based on a novel of the same name by J. J. Connolly.

The title refers to the human social strata, especially in the British crime underworld, as well as the numerous plot layers in the film.

Contents 1 Cast 2 Plot 3 Reception 4 The Layers 5 Trivia 6 Differences between book and film 7 Sequel 8 External links

Actor	Role
Daniel Craig	XXXX
Colm Meaney	Gene McGuire
George Harris	Morty
Michael Gambon	Eddie Temple
Kenneth Cranham	James Lionel Price
Jamie Foreman	The Duke
Sally Hawkins	Slasher
Sienna Miller	Tammy
Tom Hardy	Clarkie
Nathalie Lunghi	Charlotte Spencer-Temple
Dexter Fletcher	Cody
Steve John Shepherd	Tiptoes
Tamer Hassan	Terry
Burn Gorman	Gazza
Ben Whishaw	Sidney
Steve Storey	Hoist Driver
Marcel Iures	Slavo

The film is set in London, and focuses on an unnamed cocaine dealer (represented in the credits as XXXX, played by Daniel Craig). The XXXX character is far from the traditional criminal stereotype, being educated, middle class, and very articulate. Also the XXXX character is largely devoid of the extrovert, dominant tendencies of many screen drug dealers, having established his successful business buying, cutting and selling cocaine by using his intelligence and self control to avoid the largesse and gangster behaviours that would attract attention to his business. Now having made his fortune through hard work and great care, he is planning to retire from the drug industry for good.

However, XXXX's nominal employer, James Lionel Price or "Jimmy", (Kenneth Cranham), (who from a lower class criminal background is irritated by XXXX's every move) sends him to track down his lifelong associate and business partner Edward Temple's (Sir Michael Gambon) daughter, who has fled her rehabilitation centre with her drug addicted boyfriend. In reality XXXX is being sent (unbeknownst to him) to kidnap Edward Temple's daughter in an attempt to force Temple to retrieve the £13,000,000 Price has trapped in a Swiss bank account. Temple thought he and Price had each invested £500,000 in an attempt to purchase control of the natural resources of a nameless African Republic. However, as the political unrest in the country makes the pair's investment worthless, Price informs Temple he has invested £13,000,000 in the venture, almost all of his money. Temple's incredulous reaction makes Price believe he has been manipulated, and he seeks leverage over Temple in the form of his daughter to get his money back. Price also orders XXXX to broker and organise the purchase and distribution of around 1 million high grade ecstasy tablets from a flashy, idiotic gangster named The Duke. The brainless robbery when they were obtained, with The Duke and his entourage struggling to find the location in Amsterdam where the pills are and then needlessly gunning down a horticulturalist in the process is not fully explained by Price. Price believes that either Temple's skilled mercenaries or the Serbian criminal organisation from which The Duke stole the pills (reputedly a group of former war criminals feared throughout the criminal community) will see XXXX killed one way or another, and perhaps the return of his lost money.

There are multiple complications, as well as much double-crossing. XXXX has to use all of his considerable talent to secure his own escape, without being drawn back into the criminal world. In the last scene of the film, having escaped the drug world and its danger, he is in the act of basking in his own cleverness when he is suddenly and unexpectedly shot by the Duke's half-wit nephew for stealing his girlfriend, Tammy (Sienna Miller). While in the film it is intentionally left ambiguous as to whether XXXX lives or dies, in the original novel he does survive the gunshot wound. A second novel is currently being written and it is heavily rumored that it will also be made into a film, so it is reasonable to assume that XXXX survives in the film as well.

Layer Cake received mostly positive reviews, with an 80% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

"The Layer Cake is a metaphor for different levels of British society, whether it's the crime world or anything else", says director Matthew Vaughn. "The movie’s about showing how drugs are everywhere and it doesn’t matter who or where you are, you’re only one person away from drugs, scoring drugs or being involved with criminals. There's a speech at the end of the film where Temple uses Layer Cake as a metaphor for life and how you go up and up and up from one layer of the cake and to the next."

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• The film trailer featured an appearance from renowned chef Marco Pierre White.
• The entire soundtrack was put together in just four days.
• Guy Ritchie originally planned to direct. When he pulled out, the producer of his previous films, Matthew Vaughn, took over.
• There are ten deaths over the duration of the film: The Horticulturalist in Amsterdam, Paul the Boatman, Kinky, Duke, Slasher, Kilburn Jerry, Jimmy Price, Crazy Larry, Mr Lucky and Troop. In addition, XXXX is shot but directors commentary states he doesn't die, and Freddy Hearst is put in a coma (from which he later recovered) by Morty.
• The word "fuck" and its derivatives are used 201 times over the course of the movie.

• The organisation in Amsterdam from whom Duke and his crew steal the ecstasy tablets are Neo-Nazi Germans in the novel, however in the film they are wanted Serbian war criminals.
• In the novel, Morty serves 5 years in prison, while in the film, he serves 10.
• The surname of Eddie Temple is Ryder in the novel.
• In the novel Jimmy Price loses his money to a Chechen arms dealing sting, in the film he loses his investment in African mineral deposits to a communist coup d'etat.

J.J. Connolly and Matthew Vaughn have both given interviews stating that Connolly is currently writing a sequel to Layer Cake. Vaughn said, "The concept of the novel is that [XXXX] moves to the Caribbean" and "[XXXX and a friend] take over the Caribbean drug business." [1] Daniel Craig stated in an interview that if the new novel is adapted into a film, he'll only be interested in reprising his role if Vaughn directs.

• Official Site
• Layer Cake at the Internet Movie Database
• BBC interview with Matthew Vaughn
• Reviews via Rotten Tomatoes

v • d • e Cinema of the United Kingdom
	Films by year: Pre 1920 • 1920s • 1930s • 1940s • 1950s • 1960s • 1970s • 1980s • 1990s • 2000s Films A–Z • Actors • Directors • Cinematographers • Production designers • Editors • Producers • Score composers • Screenwriters