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Layer Cake (2004)
Eton Mess, Rather
Taken in context, it's notoriously weak.
Emerging from under the wings of Guy Ritchie, it's this difficult to see this film not in relation to "Lock, Stock" and "Snatch". Where those offered a unique voice, both on script and screen, "Layer Cake" fails to deliver.
The story could've been made into a Ritchie film, instead Vaughn opts for a Hollywood gangster style. While the story itself isn't bad, the script is often bland and convoluted, dishing out round after round of irrelevant bakes and endlessly twisting, to the point of dragging.
The filmmaking choices are on the poor end. The overall stern tone is sometimes broken by unsure moments of comedy. Functional violence is mixed with occasional comedic and/or overblown violence, but without any clear artistic intention for doing so. The camerawork is mostly stale, sometimes breaking into more stylised sequences, but to confusing effect. What was up with that flashback? Why that 'trunkshot'? Why the Ritchie-esque drugtaking-scene?
The music choices were all too jarring. Notoriously uninspired pop-selections were alternated with odd moments of quasi middle-eastern wordless female vocals and strings.
Of course, the makers shouldn't have opted for a Ritchie-style, but with settling for this safe, unfocused and unvoiced film, they needn't have bothered at all.
Not bad, but a half-decent story was wasted on this.