Layer Cake
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Layer Cake

Year:
Duration:
105 min
Genres:
Crime | Drama | Thriller
IMDB rate:
7.4
Director:
Matthew Vaughn
Awards:
2 wins & 9 nominations
Details
Country: UK
Release Date: 2004-10-01
Filming Locations: Newport Pagnell Service Area, M1 Motorway, Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, England, UK
Earnings
Opening Weekend: $81,706 (USA) (15 May 2005)
Gross: $2,338,695 (USA) (14 August 2005)
Cast
Actor
Character
Tom Hardy
Tom Hardy
Layer Cake
Daniel Craig
XXXX
Jamie Foreman
Duke
Sally Hawkins
Slasher
Brinley Green
Nobby
George Harris
Morty
Tamer Hassan
Terry
Colm Meaney
Gene
Marcel Iures
Slavo
Francis Magee
Paul the Boatman
Dimitri Andreas
Angelo
Kenneth Cranham
Jimmy Price
Garry Tubbs
Brian
Marvin Benoit
Kinky (as Marvyn Benoit)
Rab Affleck
Mickey
Dexter Fletcher
Cody
Steve John Shepherd
Tiptoes
Ben Whishaw
Sidney
Sienna Miller
Tammy
Paul Orchard
Lucky
Stephen Walters
Shanks
Louis Emerick
Trevor
Darren Healy
Junkie 1
Matt Ryan
Junkie 2
Ivan Kaye
Freddie Hurst
Jason Flemyng
Crazy Larry
Ben Brazier
Kilburn Jerry (as Ben Brasier)
Neil Finnighan
Troop
Michael Gambon
Eddie Temple
Budge Prewitt
Golf Host (as Budgie Prewitt)
Don McCorkindale
Albert Carter
Dragan Micanovic
Dragan
James Dodd
Principal Dancer (uncredited)
Darren Sean Enright
Criminal (uncredited)
Jensen Freeman
Dancer (uncredited)
Steve Hooper
Couple Having Sex (uncredited)
Philip Howard
Nightclub Drinker (uncredited)
Kelly-Marie Kerr
Cocaine Girl (uncredited)
Kinky Kerry
Couple Having Sex (uncredited)
Peter Rnic
Serbian Gangster (uncredited)
Nick Thomas-Webster
Serbian Security (uncredited)
Lucy Wills
70's Party Girl (uncredited)
Did you know?
Trivia
The original ending, the ending Sony Pictures wanted the director to use, shows XXXX driving off into the sunset with his new girlfriend. The director secretly recorded the alternate ending, showing XXXX being shot by Sidney to the screening audience and ended up using it based on popular vote, stating "It was not like other American movie endings".
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The warehouse where XXXX meets Eddie Temple is the largest of its kind in the UK.
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In the opening montage XXXX walks through a pharmacy, in which he imagines all the products are drugs like cocaine and ecstasy, branded with labels such as "FCUK reality". The founder of French Connection (FCUK), Stephen Marks, was the Executive Producer of the film.
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Goofs
When the gang finds "Kinky" dead from an overdose, you can clearly see his chest rising and falling as he is breathing.
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(at around 26 mins) XXXX is dropped off by Eddie Temple. As you'll notice the car drives straight off (at around 31 mins). This not is possible as the road that XXXX lives at 7 Queens Gate Mews, Kensington is a cul-de-sac (no through road). The car would not have been able to go anywhere.
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Dragan shoots XXXX's sniper - he is shown, dead, to XXX's right. Then, during the telephone conversation which follows, the sniper's suitcase is to the right of XXXX but the body is not to be seen.
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Quotes
Morty: What's happening? You been away? Yeah! Ten fucking years!
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XXXX: When I was born the world was a far simpler place. It was all just cops and robbers. But it wasn't for me. Then came the Summer of Love. Hasish and LSD arrived on the scene. There were villains locked away for twelve years for robbing a bank of ten grand, doing time with drippy hippies down six months for smuggling two million quid worth of puff. I mean work it out mate. We're in the wrong fucking game. Drugs. Changed. Everything. Always remember that one day all this drug monkey business will all be legal. They won't leave it to people like me. Not once they figure out how much money is in it. Not millions. Fucking BILLIONS. Recreational Drugs PLC: "Giving People What They Want." Good times today, stupor tomorrow. But this is now. So while prohibition lasts, make hay while the sun shines. I'm not a gangster. I'm a businessman whose commodity happens to be cocaine. I mean ten years ago a bit of charlie was for pop stars or a celebrities birthday bash. It was demonized by Daily Mail Readers getting drunk in naff wine bars. Now they're my biggest clients. This is Clarkie. Double first at Cambridge in industrial chemistry. Only he's got to pay off his student loans somehow. Today I only deal in Kilos. And, depending on which tariff you use will cost you 28 grand, or fifteen years in prison. Which is more than a rapist. C'est la vie. It is vital that we work to a few golden rules: Always works in small teams. Keep a low profile. Never deal with anyone who doesn't come recommended. I mean it's like selling anything: washing machines, hand made rugs, blow jobs, as long as you don't take the piss people will always come back for more. And that's not to say that we don't have that special kind of magic that turns two kilos into three. But never get too greedy. Know and respect your enemy! It is only very very stupid people who think the law is stupid. And avoid like the plague, loud attention seeking wannabe gangsters who are in it for the glory, to be a face, to be a name. They don't mean to fuck up. They just do. Oh, and forgive me for stating the obvious, but stay away from the end user. They're guaranteed to bring you trouble. As do guns. I hate guns. And violence. But, as some Roman general once said. If you want peace, prepare for war. Morty, and his assistant Terry watch my back. Morty learned to be cautious the hard way. He did ten years inside. He's my bridge to the criminal world. And he insures that the traffic is one way.
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Duke: Oh, you give a fuckin' aspirin a headache, pal!
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Faq
Q
What is the song that plays when ...? (SPOILERS)
A
... XXXX gives his opening narration? "Hayling" by FC Kahuna.... the opening credits play (XXXX and Morty drive to country club)? "She Sells Sanctuary" by The Cult.... Tiptoes and Cody chat up American girls in club? "Tits On The Radio" by Scissor Sisters.... XXXX meets Sidney and Tammy? "Can't Get Blue Monday Out Of My Head" by Kylie Minogue and New Order.... XXXX ignores Sidney talking and watches Tammy dance? "You Got The Love" by The Source featuring Candi Staton.... XXXX, Morty, Clarkie, and Terry drive to the boatyard? "Drive To Boatyard" by Ila Eshkeri.... Morty beats Freddie Hurst in the restaurant and The Duke is killed? "Ordinary World" by Duran Duran.... Tammy meets XXXX at the hotel? "Gimme Shelter" by The Rolling Stones.... XXXX kills Jimmy Price? "Ruthless Gravity" by Craig Armstrong.... XXXX tries to call Tammy? "Four To The Floor (Soulsavers Mix)" by Starsailor.... XXXX is shot by Sidney outside the country club? "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" by Joe Cocker.
Q
Why is the film called Layer Cake? (SPOILERS)
A
The title is a reference to the layered nature of the criminal underworld, and indeed, the world itself. As Eddie Temple explains "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. " No matter how powerful and important someone thinks they are there is always someone more powerful and important. The Duke thinks of himself as a powerful and important man, as evidenced by his name, yet he's a nobody compared to XXXX. Even XXXX himself is less important and powerful than a man like Jimmy Price who is, in turn, less important and powerful than Eddie Temple. In the end, when XXXX is referred to as the new "King" after Temple was dead, he walks out the door and is shot; there is always someone, or in this case, something more powerful. Also as another note, in the final scene at the country club, the 5 men are eating cake, a Layer Cake.
Q
A Note Regarding Spoilers
A
The following FAQ entries may contain spoilers. Only the biggest ones (if any) will be covered with spoiler tags. Spoiler tags have been used sparingly in order to make the page more readable.
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Photos from cast
Tom Hardy Burn Gorman Nathalie Lunghi
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