Part 13 of my Tell Me What To Watch Decembuary - nominated by Carl Ingebretsen.

It's a shame that Matthew Vaughn hasn't directed anything since this, his debut, that has even slightly interested me because on the basis of this, I'm sure the films he has made are probably very good. Layer Cake certainly was.

The British gangster movie genre is one that quickly became derided after the release of Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels, and with some justification. It has given way to a raft of truly dreadful films, all trying to ape the success of Guy Ritchie's breakout film. How bizarre it is, then, that it took one of his collaborators on Lock, Stock And Two Smoking…

Film 27 of The December Project

Twenty minutes into Layer Cake, there's a magic moment when some hyper, moustachioed muppet is jabbering in Daniel Craig's ear, talking about the Duke, slobsome shell-suit wearer extraordinaire: “Charisma, he's fuckin' got it...you can't deny it...” Craig sits still and pinstriped, silently ruling the space with his arm stretched along the back of the sofa, gazing straight at the camera with those blue crystal eyes. We know the director means those words about Craig, and, yes, this guy looks like the next fucking Bond alright.

He is the guy who can sort it all out. At every blasted Murphy's law twist of the plot, for a few minutes he's exactly fazed enough to be…

"You're born, you take shit. You get out in the world, you take more shit. You climb a little higher, you take less shit. Till one day you're up in the rarefied atmosphere and you've forgotten what shit even looks like. Welcome to the layer cake son"

I really can't find much wrong with this film at all. Sure, on paper it might sound like your average Guy Ritchie film, but this is probably one of the sharpest, darkly funny, smartest films I've seen.

The cast is pretty much spot on. Daniel Craig absolutely nails the lead role down, whilst showing exactly why he was chosen to play Bond. George Harris and Colm Meaney almost steal the film from him…

There are some great English gangster movies out there. Most of them are made by Guy Ritchie: Snatch and Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels are both impressive, yet still thuggish, examples of the genre.

Matthew Vaughn's directorial debut of Layer Cake somehow simultaneously is a great film and works to "class up" the English gangster genre. In the words of the nameless main character himself (a great performance by Daniel Craig): "I'm not a gangster, I'm a businessman." This is as true of him as it is of the movie.

The adaptation is well-done and interesting enough that I just might pick up the novel. Of course, that's usually to be expected when the author adapts the screenplay. The…

Film 2 of the Adapted April Challenge

First off a huge thanks to Toby Dennison for recommending this movie.

I loved it.

While it is definitely a gangster film, it is so much classier than I'm used to seeing. Daniel Craig gives us something of a preview to what we would later see in his take on Bond, all of the supporting cast are perfect and the story zigzags all over the place, keeping you on your toes throughout.

So many times whilst watching this I thought I had a handle on where it was going, only for it to completely blow those expectations out of the water. (The ending was certainly not what I was expecting.)

Vaughn has a…

¨Always remember that one day all this drug monkey business will all be legal. I´m not a gangster. I’m a businessman whose commodity happens to be cocaine.¨

Layer Cake is the film that made Hollywood turn its eyes on Daniel Craig to become the next James Bond. Despite playing an anti-villain in this film, he displayed several qualities that we actually see in some of his recent roles as Bond. If it weren’t for Layer Cake, I can´t imagine Craig being considered for the role. But Layer Cake wasn’t just a breakout role for Daniel Craig; this was also Matthew Vaughn´s directorial debut. Vaughn who had previously produced some of Guy Ritchie´s work including Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels…