Layer Cake 2004

Critics score:
81 / 100

Reviews provided by RottenTomatoes

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: As good as the story and direction may be, much of the film's success is up to Daniel Craig. Read more

Michael Booth, Denver Post: May be a worthy successor to a busy genre, but it is not an inventive inheritor. Read more

Allison Benedikt, Chicago Tribune: [Craig] is a great anti-hero, tough yet vulnerable, conflicted and amused, sincere and scared, without a hint of any of it on his sleeve. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: The film's a diverting enough 105 minutes, with a few surprises in store. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: The special appeal of Layer Cake derives from its efficient, gripping story and from the personality of the unnamed protagonist. Read more

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: I like Layer Cake a lot. Read more

Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: It has more heft than the Ritchie movies. Read more

AV Club: Read more

Bill Muller, Arizona Republic: A masterly, intricately plotted crime story. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: A propulsive drug-world movie that dutifully covers similar ground in and around London: guns, chicks, inventive use of the F word, expensive-looking locations, designer stuff, and so on. Read more

Kevin Crust, Los Angeles Times: What sets Layer Cake apart from the usual 'Just when I thought that I was out they pull me back in' films is a stunningly suave performance by Craig, a top-drawer supporting cast and a dynamic directing debut by producer Matthew Vaughn. Read more

Eric Harrison, Houston Chronicle: A gangster film, despite what its title suggests, that ranks with the best of the genre. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: The most crackerjack entertainment I've seen so far this year. Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: Layer Cake has sizzle, but it also offers plenty of steak. Read more

Scott Foundas, L.A. Weekly: Like just about every British crime picture of the last decade, it's stacked with gentlemen gangsters in Saville Row suits, blockheaded yobs with names like Kinky, Tiptoes and the Duke, and a disposable caper scenario. Read more

Peter Debruge, Miami Herald: Craig proves that he's got the strength, sophistication and brawny sex appeal to carry 007's license to kill, if only Hollywood would consider the fair-haired hunk. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: As choices for a night's entertainment, well, you'd do better with a pint of Bass. Read more

Bob Mondello, NPR.org: Read more

Jack Mathews, New York Daily News: Layer Cake is laced with flashbacks and stylistic tics, but it never loses its forward momentum, and to the last shot, it avoids predictability. Read more

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: The newest in British gangland entertainment and the tastiest in years. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: It's almost too much to follow, but the style, proven by Ritchie time and again, is irresistible. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: It's a little bleak, a little twisted, a little gory, and a lot funny. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Craig is fascinating here as a criminal who is very smart, and finds that is not an advantage because while you might be able to figure out what another smart person is about to do, dumbos like the men he works for are likely to do anything. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: In the end, Layer Cake serves up the just desserts. Read more

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: The intricate thing dodges and feints and twists this way and turns that way until, by the time of the alleged resolution, we've lost our bearings completely. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: The film is lamentably short of narrative coherence. Read more

Time Out: Read more

Mike Clark, USA Today: This is one of those movies in which you simply pluck out what there is to entertain you and forget about the rest. Read more

Leslie Felperin, Variety: Read more

Michael Atkinson, Village Voice: What's abundantly clear is how far this kind of moviemaking has come from any knowledge of real criminal life; it's a geek's ineffectual daydream of mayhem. Read more

Desson Thomson, Washington Post: It's a stylish and classic gangster saga about the clashing of rival empires, where the only thing worse than the killer before you is the killer waiting behind him. Read more

Stephen Hunter, Washington Post: An exercise in high style, high octane and low-key suaveness. Read more