Layer Cake

Based on a book by J. J. Connolly, Layer Cake follows Daniel Craig’s nameless protagonist as he encounters a raft of problems and difficulties after he decides to retire from his career as a cocaine distributor. First-time filmmaker Matthew Vaughn, working from Connolly’s script, delivers a briskly-paced yet terminally uninvolving gangster movie that boasts few attributes designed to capture and sustain the viewer’s interest, with the arms-length atmosphere compounded by a progressively complex and complicated narrative that’s relentless in its seemingly ceaseless exposition (ie it’s just exhausting, after a while). It’s clear, too, that Layer Cake‘s lack of compelling characters plays an instrumental role in cementing its downfall, as there’s never a point, ultimately, at which one is able to work up the slightest bit of interest in or enthusiasm for the myriad of protagonists’ exploits (and it surely doesn’t help that it becomes more and more difficult to keep track of the various figures). The strong performances and small handful of eye-catching, compelling sequences are hardly enough, in the end, to compensate for an often overwhelmingly mechanical screenplay, which is a shame, undoubtedly, given the potential afforded by the well-worn yet entirely workable setup.

** out of ****