You’re still looking for a streaming tip this evening, preferably with former James Bond actor Daniel Craig? Then it’s worth taking a look at the gangster thriller Layer Cake, which was added to Netflix’s catalog for the New Year. The film, now 20 years old, catapulted several careers into the next phase.
Daniel Craig plays a drug dealer who has had enough of the business
Layer Cake is based on the novel of the same name by JJ Connolly, in which a drug dealer wants to get out of the business – which (naturally) only drags him further into it.
Daniel Craig plays the unnamed protagonist XXXX, who, instead of saying goodbye to his coke pension, is given two new tasks by his boss: he is supposed to find his escaped daughter and pull off a big ecstasy deal. However, there is more to both jobs than initially expected and so XXXX himself ends up in the line of fire.
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Layer cake
Based on this, screenwriter Connolly develops a broad ensemble of bizarre and/or dangerous characters from organized crime (including Tom Hardy, Colm Meaney and Michael Gambon), which are not coincidentally reminiscent of Guy Ritchie’s films. Matthew Vaughn began his career as a producer of British gangster films including Jack Queen King GrAs and Snatch. He made his directorial debut with Layer Cake, which was followed by The Star Wanderer and at some point Kingsman: The Secret Service.
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Layer Cake helped Daniel Craig get the Bond casting
However, the film made even bigger waves in the career of leading actor Daniel Craig. At this point, the Brit had already been active in front of the camera for a long time (including in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider). Like most of his colleagues, he auditioned to succeed Pierce Brosnan as James Bond. One of his competitors was Henry Cavill (The Witcher).
But there was no clear favorite. Until Casino Royale director Martin Campbell saw a certain gangster film. In 2012, Campbell explained to the Huffington Post:
None of us making the casting decision were 100 percent sure. It took me a few days to think about it. This weekend I saw Daniel’s film Layer Cake and he showed so much charm in itthat I was convinced that he should get the role.
Layer Cake has recently been streaming on Netflix. It is also part of the Sky/WOW catalog.