Layer Cake (aka L4yer Cake/Blu-ray)

 

Picture: B     Sound: B     Extras: C+     Film: C+

 

 

Having begun the hippest recent cycle of British Gangster films by producing Guy Ritchie’s hits Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, producer Matthew Vaughn decided to helm Layer Cake (aka L4yer Cake/2004) himself and found himself the next hit director for a brief hot period.  Daniel Craig plays drug dealer Mr. X, ready to retire and make one last sale of a million Ecstasy pills to put the last icing on a great career.  Too bad some old enemies want to put him on ice and stop his happy ending.

 

This starts when the pills turn out to be stolen from another kingpin, then there is the old school U.K. kingpin (Michael Gambon) who wants them sold no matter where they come from.  That becomes the rock/hard place situation he finds himself in, and though this is nicely done, we have seen this too many times before and J.J. Connolly’s screenplay (based on his book) does not know how to end what it has started.

 

What then saves the film are the performances, including Craig, who can thank this film as much as any for getting him the Bond role and the supporting cast is stronger than usual and than they usually are.  This also includes Colm Meaney, Jason Flemyng and the increasingly controversial Sienna Miller.  The result is a curio worth seeing at least once.  If you like it, you’ll buy it.  If not, you’ll be glad you gave it a chance just the same.

 

The 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image was shot in Super 35mm by Ben Davis (Hannibal Rising) ands he is developing into an interesting cinematographer, but not at the top of his game yet.  This does not have the fancy and amusing editing of Snatch, but knows how to hold its shots and that is another reason people are still talking about this film.  There are some good depth shots and this Blu-ray shows them off nicely.  The thing holding this back is that it just is not quite offering the full impact the format can and some of this might be Super 35 limits.  I’d have to see a 35rmm print again to compare.

 

The PCM 16/48 5.1 mix is better than the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix here or on the DVD-Video version, but this is a film with sonics that are only so standout and memorable.  The Lisa Gerrard/Ilan Eshkeri score is a plus and surrounds can be healthy, but they are not up there with Snatch or Casino Royale either.  Otherwise, a likable mix, but not a standout.

 

Extras include two alternate endings that show Vaughn did not know how to end this film, Vaughn/Connolly audio commentary track, behind the scenes featurette, deleted scenes of some interest and Vaughn/Craig Q&A piece.  This is the end of the latest British Gangster cycle, especially with Craig becoming Bond.  Vaughn was set to direct the third X-Men film (which he regretfully did not considering how it turned out) then went around saying he was doing a feature version of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. before dropping out of sight for personal reasons.  That’s a story that has yet to conclude, but he has a fantasy film on the way, so we’ll see.

 

If you have not seen Layer Cake, you should give it a chance and Blu-ray is the best way (outside of 35mm film) to catch it.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo