Alfie (2004)

sex comedy
directed by : Charles Shyer
featuring : Jude Law - Marisa Tomei - Omar Epps - Susan Sarandon - Nia Long - Jane Krakowski
running time : 1 hour 46 minutes
This remake of Lewis Gilbert's 1966 film of the same name features Jude Law filling the shoes Michael Caine once wore in the title role of Alfie. As with the original, law occasionally speaks directly to the camera while his character talks of the opposite sex. Under the direction of Charles Shyer, Alfie follows a charming, if morally lacking, womanizer from one bed to the next. While his actions arise more from nonchalance than malice, Alfie nonetheless faces a moral dilemma when considering that he's impregnated one of his latest girlfriends. Alfie also includes performances from Marisa Tomei, Susan Sarandon, and Nia Long.

Law is not just a character actor trapped in the body of a leading man, he is a character actor trapped in the body of a male supermodel. Although he has successfully used his looks to his advantage in the roles he has played, Alfie represents the first time a film he appears in suffers from his looks and charm. Alfie is forever addressing the camera, taking the audience into his confidence and being just as charming towards the viewer as he is to his various female conquests in the film. The problem is that Law is so appealing a screen presence that the audience will not be able to work up enough disgust toward him. For the film's heavy-handed ending to have the power it should the audience has to believe that Alfie will be living the rest of his life alone, and Law is unable to make the audience believe that. For this reason, Law's performance cannot match the emotional depth of Caine's original conception of the character, but it does recall another cinematic philosopher who preached living the good life — he's a randy, selfish Ferris Bueller. While it is pleasurable to spend time with the character, the emptiness of the film makes that pleasure fleeting. In the end, the audience gets about as much out of their time with Alfie as the women in the film do.