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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
A fair movie, but an inept remake, July 9, 2007
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.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
solid acting but...., September 16, 2005
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.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good movie that loses direction., July 24, 2005
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.
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