May 26-June 1, 2005

movies

XXXX Hits the Spot

original gangster: Daniel Craig goes to work.

Daniel Craig makes Cake rise.

by Cindy Fuchs

The hero of Layer Cake has no name, which matters less than you'd think. This man with no name, played by the compelling Daniel Craig and identified in the credits as XXXX, wouldn't think of wearing a serape, and he doesn't squint much, although he does fancy himself quite cool. If the plot doesn't quite bear out his own impression, XXXX comes ready to convince you that he is as he believes.

XXXX opens the film with a tour through his current circumstances: He's a drug dealer, manages a fairly large and profitable organization, and moves quickly ("I only deal in kilos," he asserts). His narration is terse and snappy, the underlying images smart and aggressive, full of quick pans and smashup editing (in the manner of, say, Snatch, which first-time director Matthew Vaughn produced for his good friend Guy Ritchie). "When I was born," reminisces XXXX, "the world was a far simpler place. It was all about cops and robbers." Maybe so. But the film's seductively slick look insinuates that today's more complicated, shades-of-gray world is much more interesting. Adapted by J.J. Connolly from his novel, Layer Cake peels away the layers of good and bad, legal and illegal, addicted and audacious — focusing on the ways that crime is at the base of everything that appears legit.

Nonetheless, XXXX wants out — crime, for all its excitement, is also risky. The film, following a timeworn formula, gives him a couple of good reasons. One is an exceedingly snooty and unimaginative employer, Jimmy (Kenneth Cranham). Then there's his new assignment — to locate and return the crackhead daughter of Jimmy's own boss, Eddie Temple (Michael Gambon, who has too few scenes). Finally, there's XXXX's very brief and insubstantial relationship with someone else's girl, Tammy (Sienna Miller, who is stunning enough to motivate most any silly change-of-heart movie plot).

Fortunately, XXXX pals around with a couple of hardcore sorts, Gene (Colm Meaney) and Morty (George Harris). While Gene demonstrates his ferocity on XXXX's face in retaliation for a minor betrayal, Morty occasions the film's showstopping set piece, going after an ex-cellmate with a teapot (think The Big Heat, with more posturing and less hysteria). As the film explores the art and costs of violence as a business, these characters — at once charming, alarming and hulking menaces — embody its most provocative dilemmas. (Meaney is making something of a career in playing these thoughtful, ambitious, middle-management heavies, and he's always good at it).

Once he decides he wants out, XXXX's trajectory is pretty much set. If he were not Daniel Craig, the film's clever plotting and imaging would overwhelm him. But the actor makes the role seem more interesting than it should be. The wheels of his mind keep turning as he confronts each new impasse, and when he does take up the kind of face-to-face violence he's tried so hard to avoid — partly out of rage and partly to survive — he looks genuinely pained. He's not as cool as he thinks, and that's what makes him different, even amid the sameness around him.

Layer Cake Directed by Matthew Vaughn A Sony Pictures Classics release Opens Friday at Ritz East