Just a quickie for the holiday. I’d also parked Matthew Vaughn’s Layer Cake on the DVR and just got around to watching the flick. Another well done British crime thriller from the same producer (not director) of Snatch, although not nearly as frenetic or comedic.
Layer Cake makes up for it though by being slightly more probing of British class dynamics and having a few more surprises up its sleeve. Also, the Sienna Miller/Daniel Craig relationship has some real sparks. Very judiciously applied, I’m torn as to whether a little more of those two together would have made for a better film.
There’s something about the modern Brit gangster flick that’s definitely missing in today’s American cinema. It’s almost as if Goodfellas pretty much closed the book on stylish gangster tales for this side of the pond. In light of my string of recent discoveries, I’m wondering if there isn’t a whole lot more where Snatch, RocknRolla, and Layer Cake came from.
Update. Somewhat formulaic, but an interesting backgrounder on Layer Cake from celebritywonder.com.