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Layer Cake
EMAILPRINTSony Pictures Classics

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 30 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 36 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Action | Crime | Foreign | Suspense/Thriller
Written by: J.J. Connolly
Directed by: Matthew Vaughn
Release Date:
Theatrical: May 13, 2005
DVD: August 23, 2005
Running Time: 105 minutes, Color
Origin: UK
Summary
RATING: R for strong brutal violence, sexuality, nudity, pervasive language and drug use
Starring Daniel Craig, Colm Meaney, Sienna Miller, Michael Gambon, Jamie Foreman, Kenneth Cranham, and George Harris
A riveting thriller set in the drug underworld of the UK. (Sony Pictures Classics)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Stardust
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
Fast, convulsive, and densely exciting new British gangster thriller.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Allison Benedikt
Don't let the fast-and-loose vibe fool you: Right up to its operatic finale, this is one tight one last job.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
Craig is fascinating here as a criminal who is very smart, and finds that is not an advantage because while you might be able to figure out what another smart person is about to do, dumbos like the men he works for are likely to do anything.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
Things get a little tricky by the end, but it's the sort of trickery that's immensely satisfying.
Read Full Review >Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
Doesn't reveal all its layers until you've taken the last bite.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
It's a stylish and classic gangster saga about the clashing of rival empires.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Stephen Hunter
The director Vaughn has a flair not merely for action and ambiance but also for character.
Read Full Review >Time Richard Schickel
Layer Cake is a treat--especially if your taste in desserts is devil's food.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
A colorful cast whose combined energy lifts the story off the ground.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Manohla Dargis
The newest in British gangland entertainment and the tastiest in years.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Ray Bennett
Smartly put together, with interesting characters and caustic wit.
Read Full Review >Variety Leslie Felperin
There's a proper lived-in believability about Layer Cake's depiction of how the worlds of the rich, the criminal and the criminally rich intersect.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
Layer Cake is suffused with a stately sense of menace and a sort of doomed existential suave.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Peter Debruge
It's like "Lock, Stock" as filtered through the mind of David Mamet, with Craig as the suave middleman holding it all together.
Read Full Review >New York Post Kyle Smith
This is a smart, vivid, thrillingly real gangster picture that nevertheless resembles many others.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jack Mathews
Laced with flashbacks and stylistic tics, but it never loses its forward momentum, and to the last shot, it avoids predictability.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kevin Crust
A sleek, effective entertainment that is a refreshing respite from the slick emptiness of recent American crime dramas.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Chris Barsanti
The writing is crisp and deeply layered, and the filmmakers gave themselves a rich array of actors to work with.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin
The always-dependable and chameleon-like Craig has the chops and substance for that kind of film, but Vaughn prefers to keep matters brisk and superficial.
Read Full Review >Dallas Observer Bill Gallo
By the end, you may be exhausted by the effort of trying to unravel the thing, but you may also be taken by the power of its spell. This is a movie that compels you to watch.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
The result is so intoxicating, it hardly matters that you've heard it all before.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Paula Nechak
Craig's got the stuff but the ending of this cake is soggy for its protagonist and audience.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
Lively, cheeky, dense and, ultimately, too flip, clever and torturously twisted to be fully engrossing.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen
One of those crime flicks besotted with its own plot.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Wesley Morris
A lot of the problem is that the picture's protagonist is both naive and foul.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Michael Atkinson
What's abundantly clear is how far this kind of moviemaking has come from any knowledge of real criminal life; it's a geek's ineffectual daydream of mayhem.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.7 (out of 10) based on 36 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Wes M gave it a10:
The ultimate synthesis of recent British crime classis; the seriousness, characterization and aesthetics of Sexy Beast and the loopy, multilayered plotting and style of Lock Stock... and Snatch. Very highly recommended.
Jack T. gave it a10:
The Greatest Gangster Thriller I have Ever Seen
Adam C. gave it a10:
too good
Angela B. gave it an8:
Daniel Craig was great, and I wanted to see his work before James Bond. Good writing and dialogue, but I have seen much of the style before. Nonethess, it was quite interesting, and I am glad I watched it.
Taylor S. gave it a7:
It would have been a lot better if they connected the dots more and effectively concluded some of the points and scenes they were trying to accent.
Mark S. gave it a7:
This was pretty good. The lead actor was very good. But I didn't enjoy this nearly as much as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels or as much as Snatch. And the very end made the movie almost pointless, it angered me.
House gave it an8:
Like a great rock song, Layer Cake hooks you early and never disappoints, rocking you until the final power chord of an ending. Daniel Craig is sensational supported by a cast that once again proves the UK has the best characer actors in the world.
