I'll be honest. I had to watch Layer Cake (2004) twice in a row to understand exactly what was going on in this fast-paced gangster thriller. Director Matthew Vaughn continues the British tradition of dialogue-driven films, forcing viewers to pay careful attention to every word if they are to follow the narrative. Daniel Craig - famous for his work in the recent James Bond films - stars as the film's nameless protagonist (referred to as XXXX in the credits), who is planning to retire early from his lucrative work as a cocaine dealer. The film opens with a long voice-over by the mysterious main character describing his line of work and the careful rules by which he abides to make heaps of money and never get caught: "Don't be greedy, always have a plan and work with a small number of people whom you trust."
After explaining how XXXX works as a businessman rather than a gangster, his boss, Jimmy Price (Kenneth Cranham), asks him for two last favors outside of his usual responsibilities. Feeling obligated, XXXX agrees to find the runaway, drug-addicted daughter of Jimmy's associate, Eddie Temple (Michael Gambon), and to negotiate the sale of 1 million pills of Ecstasy with a reckless drug dealer known as "The Duke." Forced to work with people he doesn't know and doesn't trust, XXXX is thrown into a world of gangsters who are not afraid to kill to get what they want.
What makes this film so interesting is that XXXX is completely out of his element in this world of crime that requires much more than good business ethics. Whereas the typical gangster film is seen through the eyes of the criminals or the police dealing with the criminals, Layer Cake is seen through the eyes of a drug dealer who wants nothing to do with the crime that comes with the territory.
As the threat of death looms over XXXX's every choice, he must act quickly and smartly, but also violently. XXXX transforms from a "businessman whose commodity happens to be cocaine" to a gun-strapped gangster dealing with a Serbian drug lord and his hitman Dragan; a stupid, low-level gangster and his crazy girlfriend; a threatening boss; and a powerful London drug lord. XXXX becomes more and more involved with these men of power as their conflicting motivations put his life on the line, and information revolving around their past associations becomes invaluable as he begins to understand how he has been used and what he must do to stay alive. Different aspects of the storyline, meanwhile, cut in and out throughout the story, creating confusion and making it so that the viewer never knows what to expect next. In addition, Craig's portrayal of perpetual anxiety is accompanied by a variety of camera movements that disorient the viewer, causing him to further identify with the main character as an outsider thrown into this fast-paced world. XXXX's retirement from the drug business ironically ends up being his entrance to the malicious violence that exists behind it. For a man who claims to hate guns, he should have picked another career.
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