Layer Cake

The resemblance to Ritchie is palpable, but that doesn't matter. The important thing is that Matthew Vaughn can also make great films, and his debut is not just a mindless ripoff of a more famous colleague, but a very entertaining, imaginative and original crime film, of which there are never enough. It's true that all the twists and turns and plots aren't perfect and on point, but thanks to the excellent cast, the music and the almost "Ritchie-esque" direction, any ambiguities are squashed far into the background where they don't bother anyone too much. I had more than a pretty good time, I enjoyed Tom Hardy in a smaller role and Daniel Craig once again confirms that he really deserved the role of Bond as an actor. 8/10 (30/10/2012)

Superb. Vaughn is talented and serves up this great genre piece excellently. Camera tricks, great music, focus on actors... Today these are the creme de la creme of British actors and you can see that Craig put a lot of Mr. Into Bond. The story is well-thought through, has some surprises in store and, most importantly, it’s entertaining. (28/07/2013)

It has seemed for some time now that Matthew Vaughn is just trying to stylishly pick out the best tricks from his friend Guy Ritchie's golden scams, so I enjoyed watching the young or unknown faces of future or current stars more than the over-complicated plot. However, the viewer gets used to the number of characters and the turbulent changes in mood, and suddenly the fast pace seemed almost flawless to me. An incredibly precise and fresh gangster film for a debut, even though it's just a precursor to the director's abilities and potential for his future films. (15/08/2019)

Having seen Stardust (and been captivated by it) and most recently Kick-Ass (which captivated me even more), I decided to give Matthew Vaughn's work a go and got his first feature film to take home as well. Layer Cake is certainly a well made gangster flick with the more than good Daniel Craig in the lead role, and while it doesn't quite achieve the same "grit" as, say, Snatch, it comes across as wholesome and likeable and provides what it should in terms of genre. 80% (17/06/2010)

The pussy-whipped Guy Ritchie isn't exactly having a good time (his current film, Revolver, has perhaps even worse reviews in British media than his previous mega-flop starring Madonna), so another "Ritchie-flick" from a talented young filmmaker comes in handy. For a debut, this is a smartly directed, well-conceived gangster film about a drug dealer and his peripatetic quest to obtain a large shipment of ecstasy, all with the help of rival drug gangs. What separates this film from a fourth star is the fact that there is not a single scene that is indelibly etched in my memory, and that I liked the genre-similar Snatch a bit more, thanks to its more engaging story. Layer Cake simply gets old fast. Daniel Craig is okay, though, he has charisma, he can act too, but that doesn't mean I can't imagine a different type of actor in the role of James Bond. (29/10/2005)