In London, a real-estate scam puts millions of pounds up for grabs, attracting some of the city's scrappiest tough guys and its more established underworld types, all of whom are looking to get rich quick. While the city's seasoned criminals vie for the cash, an unexpected player -- a drugged out rock 'n' roller presumed to be dead but very much alive -- has a multi-million dollar prize fall into... See full summary »
A young man who was sentenced to seven years in prison for robbing a post office ends up spending three decades in solitary confinement. During this time, his own personality is supplanted by his alter-ego, Charles Bronson.
Set in Depression-era Franklin County, Virginia, a trio of bootlegging brothers are threatened by a new special deputy and other authorities angling for a cut of their profits.
A botched card game in London triggers four friends, thugs, weed-growers, hard gangsters, loan sharks and debt collectors to collide with each other in a series of unexpected events, all for the sake of weed, cash and two antique shotguns.
A case of mistaken identity lands Slevin into the middle of a war being plotted by two of the city's most rival crime bosses: The Rabbi and The Boss. Slevin is under constant surveillance by relentless Detective Brikowski as well as the infamous assassin Goodkat and finds himself having to hatch his own ingenious plot to get them before they get him.
Director:
Paul McGuigan
Stars:
Josh Hartnett,
Ben Kingsley,
Morgan Freeman
123 elite U.S. soldiers drop into Somalia to capture two top lieutenants of a renegade warlord and find themselves in a desperate battle with a large force of heavily-armed Somalis.
In 1970s America, a detective works to bring down the drug empire of Frank Lucas, a heroin kingpin from Manhattan, who is smuggling the drug into the country from the Far East.
Director:
Ridley Scott
Stars:
Denzel Washington,
Russell Crowe,
Chiwetel Ejiofor
James Bond teams up with the lone survivor of a destroyed Russian research center to stop the hijacking of a nuclear space weapon by a fellow agent believed to be dead.
Director:
Martin Campbell
Stars:
Pierce Brosnan,
Sean Bean,
Izabella Scorupco
Unscrupulous boxing promoters, violent bookmakers, a Russian gangster, incompetent amateur robbers, and supposedly Jewish jewelers fight to track down a priceless stolen diamond.
A successful cocaine dealer, who has earned a respected place among England's Mafia elite, plans an early retirement from the business. However, big boss Jimmy Price hands down a tough assignment: find Charlotte Ryder, the missing rich princess daughter of Jimmy's old pal Edward, a powerful construction business player and gossip papers socialite. Complicating matters are two million pounds' worth of Grade A ecstasy, a brutal neo-Nazi sect and a whole series of double crossings. The title "LAYER CAKE" refers to the layers or levels anyone in business goes through in rising to the top. What is revealed is a modern underworld where the rules have changed. There are no 'codes', or 'families' and respect lasts as long as a line. Not knowing who he can trust, he has to use all his 'savvy', 'telling' and skills which make him one of the best, to escape his own. The ultimate last job, a love interest called Tammy, and an international drug ring threaten to draw him back into the 'cake mix'. ... Written by
Anonymous
Tom Hardy has been speculated to replace Daniel Craig as James Bond. See more »
Goofs
The scene where XXXX gives Dragan the package next to the statue in Greenwich park is incorrect: Greenwich park is surrounded by fences and shut at night between 6pm in the winter and 10pm in the summer when it is still light. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
XXXX:
When I was born, the world was a far simpler place. It was all just cops and robbers.
See more »
Crazy Credits
The film lacks a traditional opening title. The title Layer Cake appears ten minutes into the film on a door that XXXX walks through. See more »
Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
Written by Bennie Benjamin, Gloria Caldwell and Sol Marcus
(c) 1965 Bennie Benjamin Music, Inc and Chris-n-Jen Music
Used by kind permission of Carlin Music Corp and Chris-n-Jen Music
Performed by Joe Cocker
Licensed courtesy of EMI Records Ltd and Sony Music Entertainment (UK) Ltd See more »
I was expecting good things and wasn't disappointed. It's been a while since I saw a good British gangster film. Layer Cake filled the void nicely. The acting was good, script was tight and the film was well cast. People I had not seen before were well used in their characters. The film starts out nice and simple but as it progreses it gets quite deep and twisted.
I was most surprised by Colm Meaney, I've ever only known him in Startrek.
But was superbly cast and had a quite menacing air about him.
LC has a few laughs for those with a more twisted sense of humour, it's not obvious comedy either and the film never plays for laughs. Very different to Lock Stock and Snatch. The director did well to move out from Guy Ritchie and make a serious film.
62 of 87 people found this review helpful.
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I was expecting good things and wasn't disappointed. It's been a while since I saw a good British gangster film. Layer Cake filled the void nicely. The acting was good, script was tight and the film was well cast. People I had not seen before were well used in their characters. The film starts out nice and simple but as it progreses it gets quite deep and twisted.
I was most surprised by Colm Meaney, I've ever only known him in Startrek.
But was superbly cast and had a quite menacing air about him.
LC has a few laughs for those with a more twisted sense of humour, it's not obvious comedy either and the film never plays for laughs. Very different to Lock Stock and Snatch. The director did well to move out from Guy Ritchie and make a serious film.