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Wow, well, what can I say? I have just today seen ‘Alfie’, the eagerly awaited (at least by me), re-make of the 1966 film, originally starring Michael Caine. I haven’t seen the original, meaning I can give you a review judging the film on a stand-alone status rather than comparing it to the first, if you get what I mean!
Jude Law is Alfie, the charming, womanising, Brit in New York, certainly taking advantage of his dashing good looks and suave personality. Sienna Miller (Nikki – the Christmas turkey), Marisa Tomei (Julie- Alfie’s ‘bootie call’ as she puts it), and Jane Krakowski (Dorie – the ‘backseat’ lover (ahem)) join Susan Sarandon (the lusty experienced ‘real woman’) as the female players in Alfie’s hectic schedule.
All’s well until he gets a taste of his own medicine, followed with a health scare, jolting him to see the results of his actions, and how he’s somehow managing to hurt everybody, not just himself. From there on Alfie has to face facts,
and see how he’s been left with nobody, not even his best friend after a few drinks got in the way. Forgive me for not revealing much about the plot, but I don’t want to give it away.
The narrative format of the film is linear, but chops and changes between characters and how they make an impact on our Alfie, and how he affects theirs. I feel that the narrative mimics our real lives, we often have to deal with several things at once, and not all areas of our life intertwine into a nice, neat bundle ready to smash into a blockbuster ending. This is one of the things I love about Alfie, the story of this young man is still believable, it could quite easily happen to Joe Bloggs at Number 32 and therefore has the ability to keep the audience gripped.
The film does take a bit of getting used to at first. The direct address to the audience by Alfie is quite alarming at first, the audience is used to sitting back and watching the events unfold, instead of being told about them from a first person’s point of view. But don’t be put off, it is surprisingly easy to step into the role of our protagonist’s confidante, he says throughout the film that he ‘finds it easy to hide his feelings’ and so we are given privileged position. But even with this we still can only guess his true feelings until he reveals them himself through his actions. As sexist as some of his views are; ‘Lets face it, women have a far shorter shelf life than men do’, you just can’t help but love him. He has a kind of childish innocence that is revealed when his behaviour and womanising ways turn round and give him a good whack on the nose. Not that he doesn’t deserve it. We care what happens to him, our heart sinks for him, we laugh with him, we cry for him, yet we still have the power to hate him. Odd.
The media language of this film reminds me of a Brit flick, because of the blatant, cheeky clues to the message of the film through the mise-en-scene. Texts such as ‘desire’, ‘wish’ and ‘wow’ are not so discreetly placed on billboards, shop fronts and signs, all designed to be another method of communication and insight into Alfie’s life. After all, the film does rely on the emotions of the character in relevance to his actions rather than the central focus being on his actions themselves. There is no great epiphany, at least not one that is acted upon, nor is there a great gesture, and yet we feel progress has been made, we have reached a new equilibrium, though I struggle to tell you exactly what it is!
Jude Law is fantastic as the sexy, charming and rather dashing Alfie. In short, I am now in love and am planning my stalker campaign as we speak. Spy equipment is now in the post. Susan Sarandon surprised me with her sexy, seductive role, and I cannot find a word against her, she is a fantastic actress. The entire cast in fact, was impeccable, as was the writing. The script draws you in and bites you on the nose when you start to care too much, as he then turns round and does something to make you hate him.
To conclude, I have to point out that this film is not going to be to everyone’s tastes, but I loved it and want to see the original and read the book now. And who can complain when given the chance to stare into Jude Law’s beautiful green eyes for a couple of hours?!
Thanks for reading,
K xxx
www.alfiemovie.com
(Four Stars because I was a tad disappointed by the ending)
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Production Year: 1989 - Drama - Director: Ken Cameron - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Nicole Kidman, Denholm Elliott, Hugo Weaving, Joy Smithers, Norman Kaye, Jerome Ehlers, Judy Morris
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"What's it all about, Alfie?" asked the hit Burt Bacharach/Hal David title song, to which ... more
the less philosophical answer might be: an amoral young man comically seducing a succession of beautiful women in swinging-sixties London. Michael Caine was the t...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Alfie is not really a bad sort. Its just that he has this overwhelming desire for the ... more
opposite sex. You might say that 'birds' are irresistable to him, sort of second nature.With Michael Caine in the title role, Alfie is a ribald and wild comedy, fille...
"What's it all about, Alfie?" asked the hit Burt Bacharach/Hal David title song, to which ... more
the less philosophical answer might be: an amoral young man comically seducing a succession of beautiful women in swinging-sixties London. Michael Caine was the t...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Michael Caine stars as Alfie a Cockney Casanova in this outstanding example of 1960s ... more
British filmmaking. Alfie is a good-looking charmer who finds that the Swinging Sixties are a great time to be around in. He's always able to sweet-talk women into...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Advantages: Jude Law is fantastic as the loveable rogue. A great cast and excellent screenplay, fantastic soundtrack Disadvantages: A little slow in places but more than made up for by everything else
Andy.mack 28.02.2005 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Alfie (DVD)
![Alfie [DVD] [1965]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78549467.jpg "Alfie [DVD] [1965]")
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