A drug-dealer finds himself on the wrong side of London's gangland when he opts for early retirement.

XXXX (Daniel Craig) has rare qualities for a drug dealer. He’s smart and he has an early retirement planned. Problem is, while he can assess and react to the intentions of other smart men, those he deals with are frequently stupid. This puts him in a difficult position and one fateful day, his carefully laid plans begin to spiral out of control, forcing him to engage with everything he’s tried to avoid. Like violence. And guns. Layer Cake is distinguished by two things. J.J. Connolly’s script is tight, tricky and given to the deadpan wit that informs the new wave of British gangster films. Unlike many of its stable-mates, the complexity of Layer Cake makes sense and is determined to draw you in to the confusion. Here’s a film that doesn’t reveal all its layers until the last bite and accordingly, leads you willingly despite some leaden plot points and rather brutal violence. Pleasingly, even this is contextual and contextually realistic - when XXXX is severely beaten, he stays down and doesn’t come out guns blazing. It’s a refreshing touch from first-time director Matthew Vaughn who is the film’s other ‘thing’. A producer on Snatch, his slick visual style is fluid, inventive and given to creating a lyrical world that is at once strange yet familiar. Sure, Layer Cake is a geek’s reality of criminal life and one that is, quite probably, a long way from the truth. And despite a convoluted finale that starts to undo the narrative’s emotional resonance, Layer Cake is a clever film that does just about everything a good story about bad guys should. // COLIN FRASER