Alfie
Alfie
R | 05 November 2004 (USA)
Alfie Trailers

A tale of a philosophical womanizer who is forced to question his seemingly carefree existence.

Reviews
filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
Roy Hart If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.
Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
Staci Frederick Blistering performances.
Tweekums Alfie is a cocky Englishman enjoying his life in New York. Life seems good to him; he has a girlfriend but that doesn't stop him sleeping with other women who he dumps at the first sign that they want any sort of commitment. Then things start to go wrong; his girlfriend decides that she has had enough, he sleeps with his best friend's girlfriend then he finds that he can no longer perform in the way that matters most to him… in bed. This leaves him questioning his life style. He finds another girlfriend but the longer they are together the more he longs for somebody else; he then thinks he's found 'the one' only to learn that she has the same attitude to men that he had always had for women.I can't compare this to the original film as it is a long time since I watched that. Without that nagging comparison I found this to be an enjoyable film. Jude Law did a fine job as Alfie making him likable even though he is clearly a bit of a cad. I liked how most of the dialogue was aimed directly at the audience in a way that not only breaks the fourth wall it completely removes it. Some may consider the film to be somewhat misogynistic thanks to Alfie's one track mind when it comes to women; thankfully we see that attitude has consequences. The rest of the cast impresses too; most notably Sienna Miller and Susan Sarandon. Overall I found this to be rather fun although not a must see unless you are a Jude Law fan.
Blueghost There's no other way to describe this person, Alfie. A Brit ex-pat who finds his way to one of the major urban hubs in the US, and goes about bedding women without rhyme or reason as to what he's doing, nor why he's doing it. Other than he likes what he does regardless of how anybody else feels. Truly self centered.But how does a person operate like this? Some are sociopaths. They've got that reptilian thing going on to reproduce, and have the intellect of a human mind that allows them to fixate and interact with mainstream society, but without regards as to how others feel. It's not a disease so much as a default in the neurological makeup of a particular type of human mind.But, let's suppose Alfie in this film is a normal human being. Then how is it that he's able to jump from bed to bed to bed without remorse or second thought as to whom is getting hurt in the process. How does it work? We're not really sure, other than Alfie is incapable of seeing past the bridge of his nose where his interests and other people's feelings are concerned. If this is the case, and Alfie realizes his faults after he's utterly betrayed so many friends and potential soul mates for the sake of a nights pleasure, then he truly is a scumbag. One might call him a type of human being that is incapable of existence. That is it almost seems impossible to conceive of a human being, truly and fully functional, one capable of empathy, acting the way the main character does in this story. I mean, it can't happen, right? But hey, it's Hollywood, so we give it a pass. Instead of questioning the plausibility of the scenario, we allow the films production values (outstanding in this case) to shine and wash over us. We take in Jude Law's performance as he cavorts with the opposite sex, and for a brief moment almost desire the life he has. But this is a parable about consequences, not one about male fantasies. Yet even parables fall into the realm of fantasy, as reality for real "Alfies" falls into a deep shade of gray as to their ultimate fate, and as to whether or not they learned a lesson from their foibles.I'm not a fan of the film, but I like it as a film. I think it's exceptionally well shot, well staged, and particularly well acted. It's a story regarding an element of society that allows their loins to dictate their actions and ultimate psychology, with perhaps a subconscious notion that if only people would see things their way, then it would be a whole lot better world. Untrue of course. Regardless of our deepest erotic fantasies, what really guides us is our desire for common decency and a degree of respect for our thoughts, feelings and relationships. But this seems to be beyond Alfie's capability.Truth be told I knew an "Alfie" at one time (not me) who led pretty much the life this Alfie led, right down to betraying his best friend in exact same way as depicted in the film (again, not me, but I knew the parties involved). I wondered if that person ever learned a lesson like Alfie. Probably not.If I had one complaint about this film, and I'm not sure that I do, it's that there's little in the way of a Greek chorus, or a close friend acting as such, telling us Alfie's ultimate fate. That's perhaps too didactic, but it almost felt like the film needed that. I also felt the film needed to be accessible to younger viewers. The language and sex scenes prohibit this, but in our day and age it seems to me that young people need this kind of warning.I suppose the big question is this; will Alfie ever change? One doubts it. But then again the film doesn't present any afterword. We have to decide for ourself what Alfie makes of his world.An interesting watch.
errollgarnier Jude Law acts with all the passion of a piece of cheese and displays the on-screen charisma of some rotting fruit which is desperately clinging to the fluff at the bottom of a pedal bin.The plot is watered down just sufficiently to enable it to be fully understood by anyone with an IQ approaching anywhere near room temperature.Two hours of my life passed by watching this vacuous piffle, which could have been more productively used counting the white lines in the middle of the road or repeatedly flushing one's head down the toilet.Any person who admits to liking this film should immediately be precluded from voting and removed from civilised society.
rzajac I haven't seen the original, so if you're looking for an historic perspective, look elsewhere.What can I say?: I really like Jude Law. I like his good stage sense; he exudes entertainment value, and (as long as he's well-directed) this makes him worth watching.Nice to see him get a lead role; another commenter complained about his asides to the audience--not as organic as Caine's--but I thought they were well-directed, and I feel Law takes direction very well.Everything is set up beautifully. It's an operatic theme, grand in its simplicity: A man is a loser mix of natural-born girlslayer, while being tragically limited by fundamentally loveless views of relationship; really, just Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin without the songs. Just paint the picture, paint it clearly and well, don't forget to imbue it with humanity (read: humor), thereby making it all that much more tragic. Oh: And don't resolve it. Leave it for us to resolve within ourselves. They could have pulled their punches with a facile resolution; as feelgood as it would be lacking in genuine redemptive power.Interesting question: No doubt some will more or less reflexively reject a remake; some right out of the gate, others after watching it with a suspicious, jaundiced eye. But the important thing is that grand, operatic theme I allude to in the previous paragraph. Do they or do they not deliver those specific goods?: A picture of an incomplete man.I say they do. And, insofar as they do, this is a picture with a big vision.In other words, check it out.