Layer Cake (2004)

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This reasonable British gangster thriller, directed by Matthew Vaughn, helped to set Daniel Craig (pictured) on his way from respected independent movie actor to Hollywood big gun. Craig stars as an unnamed cocaine dealer who, having made his fortune, is now planning to retire from the drug industry for good.

Craig's character, known as XXXX, isn't the stereotypical drug dealer that we have come to expect from British films such as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, or even anything akin to someone like Scarface's Tony Montana. Instead, XXXX is educated, middle-class, and very articulate. He has avoided the extravagant tendencies that come with the "big-time drug dealer" lifestyle, preferring to use his intelligence and self-control to avoid police attention while making an awful lot of money.

XXXX's employer Jimmy Price (Kenneth Cranham) has two final jobs for XXXX before he retires with his fortune. The daughter of Price's lifelong business partner Edward Temple (Michael Gambon) has fled from rehab with her drug-addict boyfriend, and Price wants XXXX to track her down. Unbeknown to XXXX, he is actually being set up by Price to kidnap Temple's daughter so that Price can use her as leverage against Temple to extract £13 million from his and Temple's Swiss bank account.

The other job that XXXX is given by Price is to organise the purchase and distribution of £1 million worth of high-grade Ecstasy tablets that were stolen by a young hoodlum known as The Duke (Jamie Foreman) from a group of Serbian drug dealers. The problem is that the Serbs want them back and aren't in a forgiving mood.

Throw into the mix XXXX's romantic interest in the form of Sienna Miller as Tammy, the sometime girlfriend of The Duke, and the film becomes quite intriguing as all characters involved attempt to double-cross each other. There may be no honour among thieves, but it seems there is even less between drug dealers.

Layer Cake is a Film programme that first aired in 2004 and has been rated 15.

Layer Cake is a 3 star programme.

Next Show Times

• United Kingdom
• United States

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