Alfie
Y
Oct 22, 2004
This review was written for the theatrical release of "Alfie."
Older, trendier but no wiser, Alfie is back among us with stylish fashion plate Jude Law slipping smoothly into Michael Caine's role as the cad/ladykiller. A lot has happened since the original "Alfie" came out in 1966 -- AIDS, for one thing -- and the world seems so overwhelmed with social, religious, political and cultural ailments that a critique of rootless hedonism seems almost quaint. Is the Playboy Philosophy still worthy of this kind of scrutiny?
Law gives a bright, energetic performance that manages to find depths in a shallow man. And Charles Shyer, Alfie's new co-writer (with Elaine Pope) and director, has made superficial changes: Alfie no longer inhabits Mod London but contemporary New York. Unlike Caine's cockney chap, who would bed almost anything in a skirt, Law's Eurotrash lothario is more discriminating and calculating. Nor does he experience the unpleasantness of Caine's Alfie: There will be no back alley abortion, the thing that genuinely shocked moviegoers back in 1966. Today, after all, abortion is legal.
Alas, this is a remake without a reason. Alfie can no longer shock us. There will always be Alfies and women who ignore their best instincts to fall for them, but he is no longer a novel movie character. Indeed, even more than the original, this "Alfie" exists to tantalize men and women with the fantasy of easy sex in the city between a good-looking stud and a bevy of hot babes. That allure should lead to shapely legs at the boxoffice.
As in the Lewis Gilbert-directed original, adapted by Bill Naughton from his own play, the antihero delivers his reflections on his life and mores (or lack thereof) straight into the camera. Like it or not, we're made his confidant and confederate. We become a naughty sexual prowler, too.
Alfie escorts us through his life: his humble bachelor flat -- he rarely spends a night there anyway -- designer suits purchased at bargain prices, the limousine company where he works with his one male friend, Marlon (Omar Epps). The back of those limos provide plenty of room for satisfying trysts with lonely housewives like Dorie (Jane Krakowski). When Alfie needs a dose of home cooking and comfort, he drops in on Julie (level-headed Marisa Tomei), his "semi-permanent-quasi-sort-of-girlfriend."
In Liz (a luminous Susan Sarandon), a successful businesswoman of a certain age, he meets his match in a woman as libidinous and profligate as he. Nikki (Sienna Miller in a smashing debut) is his "Christmas miracle," arriving just when it looks like he must spend the holidays alone. But his big mistake is lovely Lonette (Nia Long), Marlon's estranged girlfriend who should be off-limits even to Alfie. A one-night stand leads to her pregnancy, which causes Alfie to question his lifestyle, if only momentarily.
Actually, he questions it often in his running dialogue with us. To wit: "My life's my own, but I don't have peace of mind." Or: "I find that lately even lying to myself comes easily." Every encounter, even with an old man in the bathroom of his doctor's waiting room, has him musing about the downside to being a perpetual playboy.
The thought occurs: Alfie, get a life. Ah, but that's not going to happen, is it?
So we might as well relax and enjoy the scenery, lovingly shot by cinematographer Ashley Rowe, often at night when Manhattan never looks lovelier. Yes, we need to relax and revel in the well-known Manhattan landmarks, Liz's posh Upper East Side digs, Beatrix Aruna Pasztor's eye-catching designs draped on exquisite beauties and background songs by Mick Jagger, Dave Stewart and John Powell no less.
Then, when it's over, we can finally ask: What's it all about?
ALFIE
Paramount Pictures
A Charles Shyer production
Credits:
Director: Charles Shyer
Screenwriters: Elaine Pope, Charles Shyer
Based on the original screenplay by: Bill Naughton
Producers: Charles Shyer, Elaine Pope
Executive producers: Diane Phillips, Sean Daniel
Director of photography: Ashley Rowe
Production designer: Sophie Becher
Music: Mick Jagger, Dave Stewart, John Powell
Costumes: Beatrix Aruna Pasztor
Editor: Padraic McKinley
Cast:
Alfie: Jude Law
Julie: Marisa Tomei
Marlon: Omar Epps
Lonette: Nia Long
Dorie: Jane Krakowski
Nikki: Sienna Miller
Liz: Susan Sarandon
MPAA rating: R
Running time -- 105 minutes
Older, trendier but no wiser, Alfie is back among us with stylish fashion plate Jude Law slipping smoothly into Michael Caine's role as the cad/ladykiller. A lot has happened since the original "Alfie" came out in 1966 -- AIDS, for one thing -- and the world seems so overwhelmed with social, religious, political and cultural ailments that a critique of rootless hedonism seems almost quaint. Is the Playboy Philosophy still worthy of this kind of scrutiny?
Law gives a bright, energetic performance that manages to find depths in a shallow man. And Charles Shyer, Alfie's new co-writer (with Elaine Pope) and director, has made superficial changes: Alfie no longer inhabits Mod London but contemporary New York. Unlike Caine's cockney chap, who would bed almost anything in a skirt, Law's Eurotrash lothario is more discriminating and calculating. Nor does he experience the unpleasantness of Caine's Alfie: There will be no back alley abortion, the thing that genuinely shocked moviegoers back in 1966. Today, after all, abortion is legal.
Alas, this is a remake without a reason. Alfie can no longer shock us. There will always be Alfies and women who ignore their best instincts to fall for them, but he is no longer a novel movie character. Indeed, even more than the original, this "Alfie" exists to tantalize men and women with the fantasy of easy sex in the city between a good-looking stud and a bevy of hot babes. That allure should lead to shapely legs at the boxoffice.
As in the Lewis Gilbert-directed original, adapted by Bill Naughton from his own play, the antihero delivers his reflections on his life and mores (or lack thereof) straight into the camera. Like it or not, we're made his confidant and confederate. We become a naughty sexual prowler, too.
Alfie escorts us through his life: his humble bachelor flat -- he rarely spends a night there anyway -- designer suits purchased at bargain prices, the limousine company where he works with his one male friend, Marlon (Omar Epps). The back of those limos provide plenty of room for satisfying trysts with lonely housewives like Dorie (Jane Krakowski). When Alfie needs a dose of home cooking and comfort, he drops in on Julie (level-headed Marisa Tomei), his "semi-permanent-quasi-sort-of-girlfriend."
In Liz (a luminous Susan Sarandon), a successful businesswoman of a certain age, he meets his match in a woman as libidinous and profligate as he. Nikki (Sienna Miller in a smashing debut) is his "Christmas miracle," arriving just when it looks like he must spend the holidays alone. But his big mistake is lovely Lonette (Nia Long), Marlon's estranged girlfriend who should be off-limits even to Alfie. A one-night stand leads to her pregnancy, which causes Alfie to question his lifestyle, if only momentarily.
Actually, he questions it often in his running dialogue with us. To wit: "My life's my own, but I don't have peace of mind." Or: "I find that lately even lying to myself comes easily." Every encounter, even with an old man in the bathroom of his doctor's waiting room, has him musing about the downside to being a perpetual playboy.
The thought occurs: Alfie, get a life. Ah, but that's not going to happen, is it?
So we might as well relax and enjoy the scenery, lovingly shot by cinematographer Ashley Rowe, often at night when Manhattan never looks lovelier. Yes, we need to relax and revel in the well-known Manhattan landmarks, Liz's posh Upper East Side digs, Beatrix Aruna Pasztor's eye-catching designs draped on exquisite beauties and background songs by Mick Jagger, Dave Stewart and John Powell no less.
Then, when it's over, we can finally ask: What's it all about?
ALFIE
Paramount Pictures
A Charles Shyer production
Credits:
Director: Charles Shyer
Screenwriters: Elaine Pope, Charles Shyer
Based on the original screenplay by: Bill Naughton
Producers: Charles Shyer, Elaine Pope
Executive producers: Diane Phillips, Sean Daniel
Director of photography: Ashley Rowe
Production designer: Sophie Becher
Music: Mick Jagger, Dave Stewart, John Powell
Costumes: Beatrix Aruna Pasztor
Editor: Padraic McKinley
Cast:
Alfie: Jude Law
Julie: Marisa Tomei
Marlon: Omar Epps
Lonette: Nia Long
Dorie: Jane Krakowski
Nikki: Sienna Miller
Liz: Susan Sarandon
MPAA rating: R
Running time -- 105 minutes
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