Customer Reviews

Alfie

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(24)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

Jude Law is a fine actor and does his usual excellent job in this remake. If you've never seen the original you'd probably think it was a decent enough movie. But if you've seen the original, with Michael Caine, you'd be wondering why they bothered to make this in the first place- especially the butchered version that resulted.

Like a lot of latter day remakes, this is very much a prettified version of the original. All of Law's conquests have model good looks- as does Law himself, for that matter. He's also a good deal more refined, in accent and in manners, unlike Caine's rather crude Cockney. He moves about in beautiful surroundings. And that loses an essential element of the setting of the novel. Alfie did not live in a beautiful world, and his conquests were not necessarily beautiful women; in large part they were women whom someone else desired- and that was what compelled him to seduce them.

Caine's (and the novel's) Alfie exploited weak women; for whatever reason, the director, or perhaps the producers, decided this Alfie's conquests had to be modern, strong women who use him as much as he uses them. That of course makes Alfie a good deal less of a cad; Jude Law's Alfie is not leaving behind the wrecked lives that Caine's did, and he becomes almost sympathetic at one point- a sentiment completely absent in the book and the original movie.

In the end, this version misses the essential Alfie- his inability to recognize flaws in himself, even as he rationalizes his actions and convinces himself that he's doing the right thing. The result is a shallow character study completely lacking the depth and impact of the original.

Acting by the entire cast was damn good. What kept this from being a keeper in my DVD collection was the script-Character conversations are a bit trite, exhibiting all the back-n-forth verbal luster of a 1950's dime store novel. Law starts out a bit rocky, perhaps owing to the "talking directly to the camera" point of view, but this soon becomes more than bearable as the film progresses- It just takes a bit of getting used to. The biggest fault in Alfie's world is his "what could have been" paranoia in relationships, always believing there is someone better out there beyond the time he spends with his current (sometimes multiple) love interests. But, at least his character goes through a progression: starting out with a carefree attitude with women, eventually mounting into a man with a bit of depth and understanding , and ultimately realizing the true importance of loving....At least I think that's where the movie was going.

The genre of love-drama's that delve deep into the lives of sex addicts, heart breakers, and those naiive to the ways of love, have always interested me. I had been looking forward to seeing this film for quite sometime. It contained a knockout cast of Jude Law, Marissa Tomei, and Omar Epps.

The introduction to the movie starts of strong. Alfy narrates his storybook existence in New York, and quickly introduces us to his style, feelings, and women. We find Alfy to be someone who can not stick with one girl. He is dependent of all the women in his life and finds an emotional attachment with many of them.

Midway through the movie i realized that the plot had not progressed since the first 20 minutes of the movie. I had already got a taste of what Alfie's life was like, and it was time for the movie to take me on a ride of excitement, an emotional rollercoaster was expected. But the movie begins to get EXTREMELY repetitive. He meets a great girl, dumps her. Meets a great girl, dumps her. Trys to get a girl back, doesn't happen.

Another problem with this movie was that none of the secondary characters are developed in entirity. Alfie himself we get to know WAY to well, while his best friend, girlfriends, confidants, we develop no connection with. I end up not caring what happens to any of the characters as the movie drags into oblivion.

My recommendation is save this movie for when you are REALLY bored. I'd watch Swingers 10 more times before i watched this movie again.

I had only seen Jude Law in two films prior to this one and was instantly intrigued by this sexy Brit. If you're expecting a romantic comedy, you're out of luck with this one but it's still a decent movie.
Alfie's a smooth talking Londoner in New York who does his very best to avoid succumbing to the dreaded 'c' word commitment. Along the way, we're introduced to some of his ladies on the go - Dorie, Julie, Liz and Nikki, to name but a few.
Alfie, a chauffeur, lives in a small Manhattan apartment and dedicates his life to seducing women. Talking directly into the camera, and preening with a self-satisfaction so complete as to seem a form of innocence, he expounds on clothes, the proper application of cologne and the various rules he employs in his libidinous pursuits. His goal, it seems, is to have sex with as many women as possible but to get close to none of them.
Each one starts off as a fling, but somehow manages to influence Alfie's life. He slowly starts to realize that he is actually alone and that there is more to life than what he has done so far.
Would I recommend it? Definitely. Although remakes do not usually come through smelling of roses, this one does. It's fresh, colourful and funny. Jude Law is magnificent, introducing us to a slightly warmer side of Alfie than Michael Caine.

i am a fan of jude law and think he's very handsome. i was also excited to watch this movie (and see sienna miller who was emerging as the "it" girl when this came out). i saw the previews and on-set pics for Alfie and thought it would be good. unfortunately it was boring. it just had no spark. it was lackluster. and for some reason jude law's speech is a bit incomprehensible (guess it's his accent). the people i watched it with kept saying "what did he just say?" that makes the movie difficult to follow b/c Alfie is the one narrating the movie. only when sienna entered it got a bit exciting, but even then it wore off and went back to being dull. i don't know what went wrong with the movie. maybe they need to try it again in a few years.

Save your time... and about $20. Buy the less expensive original version starring Michael Caine. It is by far, a better film than this remake. Jude Law seems miscast as sleazebag Alfie (though off screen... he is every bit as sleazy... ahem, ahem); and his performance, as the performances of his co-stars are lacking in every aspect of the word. There is no merit to this film. Alfie should NEVER have been remade. I would ONLY recommend the original. Ok? Ok....

Why does Hollywood keep making remakes of classics that cannot possible be improved upon? This is a Shallow, tepid, very poor remake compared to the Michael Caine, 1966 original. The performances, especially Jude Law (who is usually excellent in film) are a disappointment. The direction is uneven and stilted. There are offensive scenes. I will stick with the 1966 original and forget this mess.

This movie should have been SO much more fun. The film starts out in fine fashion, with Jude Law's Alfie at the top of his game--dressing in classy clothes and wooing as many stunning women as possible. But instead of letting the majority of the movie be fun fluff--showing Alfie as he does his thing and enjoys himself to the hilt--the film chooses to turn heavy-handed and show just how much of a shallow jerk Alfie is. Alfie forgets women's names that he's slept with, sleeps with his best friend's ex, responds to one of his girlfriend's revelation of "I love you" with "thanks, babe." This is all too bad, really, because Jude Law is a joy to watch. Charming, fun, and suave, he's one of the few real pluses of this movie. As for the women, the two that I think come off best are Jane Krakowski (Elaine from Ally McBeal) and Susan Sarandon. Krakowski has never looked sexier, and Susan Sarandon has the sexy-older-woman-thing down perfectly here. But the movie begets just one bummer after another. Alfie gets a cancer scare, Alfie goes impotent (then recovers), Alfie gets a girl pregnant, Alfie dumps a girl who loves him, etc. In the end, Alfie is left all alone, with his outlook on life unresolved. Even Law's clever grin at the end can't wring any joy out of this movie. Sigh. Tragic.

This is a CD with a movie tie in rather than vice versa. The star here is Mick Jagger and always will be...I mean is any one star in this movie bigger? Sure Jude Law is talented and the women are gorgeous...everybody is eye candy, the story is better than so so. Do these people/characters really exist somewhere in the universe? I've never met them, but fantasy is what Hollywood is about. Back to Mick...how did the movie get him to score the wonderful songs here and Dave Stewart is so great, please Eurythmic reunion is overdue (forget the Police). I wish this movie would have done better commercially, but probably no one related to it. I think it is a great sociological study of people without morals.

This movie reminds me of a certain popular Manhattan-based HBO series, except with a male Carrie Bradshaw as the leading character. Alfie (Jude Law) pursues a wild lifestyle of amorous pursuits, designer shoes and clothes, and a burning need to share his life with us, the viewing public.

In his casual romps, he of course becomes more like Samantha Jones, but the morality of Charlotte and the wit of Miranda is sadly lacking.

When you get right down to it, there's really nothing to like about Alfie's character, and you have to give Jude Law his props for being so realistically empty, yet undeniably charming with his killer smile.

Although the female characters, with one notable exception, are supposed to be the underdogs, most of them come off stronger, tougher and smarter than Alfie, even after he loves them and leaves them. Nia Long is wonderful as Lonette, and her resemblance to Angela Bassett was extraordinary. There's a scene when she's dancing to the music of a jukebox, and I swear my mind flashed to Angela's role as Tina Turner.

Marisa Tomei plays the role of Julie, a sweet single mother, who is the closest thing to a main squeeze Alfie's ever had, and Susan Sarandon neatly steals the rest of the movie as the sexiest over forty Alfie's ever seen.

The main story has moved out of London for this tepid remake, and although the era has been updated to Prada in Manhattan, parts of the movie seem old and dated, especially the hair, makeup and apparel.

A weak story to start with, it ends somewhat abruptly, with dangling ends flying all over the place. Alfie's a mess, plain and simple, but the performances of Law, Long, Tomei and Sarandon bring it up to a respectable, but not outstanding, three stars.


Amanda Richards, April 13, 2005