Alfie

2/17/2021

Based on the 1966 film of the same name (and, in turn the 1963 stage play), 2004's _Alfie_ stars Jude Law as a British commitment-shy play boy in Manhattan. Much like the original film, Alfie finds himself surrounded by beautiful women with a different one to jump into bed with each night. He treats both them and his friends like dirt, but doesn't care when he knows his charm can replace them. If the original film contained a plot that would make the world blush when looked through a contemporary lens, then 2004's _Alfie_ attempts, in a way, to update that story for its modern audience. As is typical with remakes of old British films, the location has been moved to appease its American audience but a tacit nod to the Cockney charm of _Alfie_'s original actor (Michael Caine) in the

9/4/2023

Some films just don't need an "update". "Alfie" certainly didn't. Certainly Jude Law has a certain je ne sais quoi reprising the Michael Caine role as the womanising philanderer. His normal hump 'em and dump' em strategy is soon seriously compromised by his inability to "perform" and this has all sorts of ramifications on his shallow existence (relocated to New York in this version). Sienna Miller and Susan Sarandon fail to help lift this great looking but intellectually void film get going, and Law - though every inch the dapper, gorgeous, gigolo to look at - just hasn't the charm or sleaziness of Caine. It does have a decent soundtrack, but not the same with out Cilla Black...