Layer
Cake is a must for all aspiring criminals. Most of the main
characters in this film exude a professionalism, intelligence
and class that just seems to be missing in most of today's crime
dramas. I'm sure some rappers will be name-dropping this movie
by Fall. It has cult classic written all over it.
The plot centers on Mr. X (he's so smart, we never learn his name),
a young English drug dealer, tasked with finding the addict daughter
of a powerful crime boss, as well as unloading a million ecstasy
pills that were stolen from a ruthless Serbian syndicate. The
problem is Mr. X wants to retire from the game (I said he's smart,
I didn't say he wasn't naive). He's a drug dealer, not a private
eye. Why should he be charged with locating teenage drug addicts?
He sells coke, not ecstasy. How the hell is he going to unload
a million E pills, when every dealer knows they belong to the
Serbs?
Daniel Craig turns in a star-making performance as Mr. X. No wonder
he's being considered to be the next James Bond. The boy is good.
His Mr. X never seems to get rattled by the chaos swirling around
him. Like any smart young buck, he relies on the advice of two
older guys, Morty and Gene, to get him through this tornado of
shit. As Morty, George Harris is the coolest black guy in a cool
white crime movie since Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction.
All he wants are clean transactions and no fuck-ups. The look
of restrained disgust he gives Mr. X when he learns that The Duke,
the resident fuck-up, robbed the Serbs of those pills and dropped
Mr. X's name is fucking priceless. He knows a shitstorm is coming.
He also delivers one of the greatest ass-kickings in cinematic
history.
The Duke's blunder sets into motion a series of events that will
confuse some less fortunate viewers. No matter. Those people are
dumb and don't deserve to understand a good movie. Those of you
who can follow will enjoy the vast array of colorful characters
and comical conflicts. The most interesting character, and the
source of much of the film's intensity, is Dragan, the high-skilled
Serb assassin, who must either bring back the pills or the head
of the man who was responsible for them being stolen. So, Dragan
comes after Mr. X, as if Mr. X didn't have enough problems...
I wish this film had a wider audience, but it lacks the star power
and the simple plot necessary for films to succeed in summer.
I guess it'll just have to settle for the misplaced comparisons
to those inferior Euro crime dramas made by Madonna's husband.
Those were good films, but they aren't quite as good as Layer
Cake. Dat Cake maintains a frenetic pace without
the cheap camera tricks and over use of the zoom lens. Its dialogue
is more realistic and the characters aren't funny for the sake
of it.
"The art of good business is being a good middleman."--The
baddest motherfucker in the film.
Go see for yourself.
