Great Film: Alfie
Sort of a pointless exercise.
The original 'Alfie,' released in 1966, was considered a revelation for
its frank and somewhat dark portrait of the life of a cockney rake, and
can now be seen as somewhat prophetic, as it predated (and in some ways
helped to introduce) the era of 'swinging London' and the sexual
revolution. The 2004 'Alfie' seems to exist for no other purpose than
to dress Jude Law up in a hip wardrobe and allow him to wink, smirk,
and sigh endlessly at the camera as he sleeps his way through a series
of likable women he doesn't deserve. There isn't much of a narrative
structure here, and while Law is an engaging screen presence, Alfie is
a totally unsympathetic lout who deserves his eventual comeuppance.
It's too bad that Bill Naughton wasn't able to update his original
story more effectively, because the film is gorgeous to look at.
Despite a few unnecessary bits of cleverness (billboards with odd,
art-nouveau messages like 'desire' and 'wish', a lot of mod-ish split
screen sequences with still photography, etc.), the cinematography is
superb, Law looks dashing in his GQ hipster wardrobe, and the
ladies--Susan Sarandon, Jane Krakowski, Nia Long, Marisa Tomei, and
newcomer Sienna Miller (whom Law apparently dumped his wife for during
filming)--are ravishing. The soundtrack is also superb, made up mostly
of new tunes by Mick Jagger and Dave Stewart (of Eurythmics fame).
The biggest problem here is that times have changed since the original
Alfie: sexual and gender politics don't allow for a protagonist who
bed-hops and deceives women with impunity to be cast as heroic or even
remotely sympathetic. In the end, the film seems hollow, like a nearly
two-hour long visual fashion spread (interestingly, 'Vanity Fair'
editor Graydon Carter has a cameo in the film). Beautiful to look at,
but ultimately it's just pretty trash.
Cast
- Alfie played by Jude Law
- Marlon played by Omar Epps
- Lu Schnitman (as Renee Taylor) played by Renée Taylor
- Dorie played by Jane Krakowski
- Phil played by Jeff Harding
- Julie played by Marisa Tomei
- Terry played by Kevin Rahm
