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Alfie (2004)

Alfie
"What's it all about? 'That' is what it's all about!"

Starring:

Jude Law
Susan Sarandon
Omar Epps
Nia Long
Marisa Tomei

Released By:

Warner

Released In:

2004

Rated:

R

Reviewed By:

The Boneman

Grade:

B-


Alfie was once a brave and candid play about a career womanizer, the women he wrongs and the consequences of "living libido loca." Written for the stage by Bill Naughton, it was adapted into a memorable Michael Caine vehicle in 1966 and translated well in a time when the conservative mores of the past were rubbing up against the sexual revolution that would characterize the next decade or so. This new incarnation of Alfie, (adapted by director Charles Shyer and long-time sitcom vet Elaine Pope) while entertaining enough to recommend, lacks the benefit of being so wonderfully timely, and also suffers from kind of an "old news" syndrome.

Law is a good casting choice as the Brit taking a big bite out of the Big Apple. His soliloquies (think Ferris Beuller talking to the audience about sex and how to successfully avoid commitment so as to have it with as many women as possible) are a bit flat and, as mentioned above, are lacking in any sort of meaningful revelation. Since Michael Caine uttered these diatribes, dozens of films have since belabored this topic, making it so this newest Alfie tends to sputter and wheedle, where it's predecessor once spat and growled.

Rendered tame where it was once wicked and controversial, the new Alfie relies almost entirely on the performance of Law. The women in his life are all fine actresses and acquit themselves well enough, but none of them are on screen long enough to develop any kind of momentum. Marisa Tomei plays the closest thing that Alfie has to a main-squeeze. Her biggest liability is that she has a young son, and is hence increasingly averse to having a man breeze in and out of her apartment whenever it suits him. When she finally kicks Alfie to the curb, Law is rocked by it, and his acting in this sequence is some of the best in the film. Skillfully allowing women to send him packing is part of his game, but Tomei is his chief touchstone and watching Law paint on a brave face as he walks off into the sunset was subtle and effective.

Alfie plays a limo driver, which is an apt metaphor for his tendency to cruise in and out of the lives of women, with a mobile bedroom. His best friend (Omar Epps) also works for the Limo company, and is beside himself when his Alfie-inspired reluctance to commit costs him the love of his life (Nia Long). Following the break up, Long and Law hang out one evening and do a little too much drinking and, as we all know was coming, wind up in the sack.. Soon confronted by Epps, who wants to know what happened, "what did you say to her?" - Alfie is on the verge of confessing his transgression, when Epps gives Alfie a big fat hug and announces that he and Long are engaged to be married. We also learn that she is pregnant and it is decided that Alfie should take her for an abortion. Since I've already done enough spoiling, I won't reveal any more about the outcome of this vignette.

During all this, the 30 year old Alfie is soon plagued by repeated instances of erectile dysfunction and, after a trip to his physicians, it is discovered that he has a lump on his penis. While awaiting the results of his biopsy, Alfie is beset by several days of soul-searching, and while taking stock of himself he begins to see the error of his ways and vows to make amends and turn his life around. When he learns that the lump is as benign and inconsequential as his heart, he takes to his old ways with a vengeance. Soon he finds himself in deep smit with a woman 20 years his senior, in the form of the ageless Susan Sarandon. Sarandon is more than a match for Alfie when it comes to being a self-centered player. When he eventually gets a harsh dose of his own medicine - courtesy of Sarandon - it's quite heart-breaking.

Jane Krakowski (as Dorie) plays the other major woman of Alfie's affections, and I think this relationship best demonstrates the predicament that chronic womanizers encounter. At first Dorie appears to be everything that Alfie has been holding out for - beautiful and sexy in ways that can be demonstrated mathematically, she is a free-spirit who immediately succumbs to Alfie's charms and the two are soon shacked up at his place. As the initial infatuation begins to wear thin, Alfie is forced to confront his own inherent shallowness, and to face the fact that it isn't so much that the women he beds aren't lovely and wonderful - it's that he is incapable of maintaining a lasting relationship because he is pathologically incapable of remaining satisfied.

I've read a few negative reviews that complain that Alfie is a movie devoid of heart. I would disagree. This character is undoubtedly ego-centric, but the various blows to the ego he receives affect him, sometimes deeply. Alfie is ultimately a very lonely individual, who suffers from the inability to find someone or something to fill the void in his heart. And though the film lacks the immediacy of the original, I liked the fact that it doesn't attempt to redeem this Alfie character - no resolution or possible answers are posited. Rather, Alfie is forced to accept his lot - he whistles through his teeth and spits and soldiers-on, embracing the dim hope that their may yet be an answer to his existential predicament, perhaps just around the next block. That's what it's all about. The willingness to continue the quest, in spite of the relative hopelessness of it all. Not a great film, and certainly a pale reflection of the original, but Law brings just the right mixture of arrogance and vulnerability to make it a worthwhile film.

:: zBoneman.com Reader Comments ::

Buffy

Buffy

Is it just my computer or is there not a review listed above, What's that all about boneman people?

Adam

Adam

Buffy,

Your eyes do not deceive you. There is no review up. I have no excuse. I simply didn't get to it. I did see the film and to be completely honest, I wasn't very big on it. I think Jude Law is terrific but the movie is surprisingly dull and has nothing on the Michael Caine version. I'd probably give it a C or a C+. The movie is about to drop on DVD, so I'm thinking The Boneman will probably throw a review up shortly. Thanks for hitting the site.

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