Alfie Back to Index

Imdb Rating: 6.1
Genre: Comedy
Directed: Bill Naughton (play), Bill Naughton (earlier screenplay)
Country: UK
Year: 2004
Duration: 103 min

Media: Hot stuff
Recommended by zMin

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Actors: Jude Law (as Alfie), Renée Taylor (as Lu Schnitman), Jane Krakowski (as Dorie), Jeff Harding (as Phil), Marisa Tomei (as Julie), Kevin Rahm (as Terry), Max Morris (as Max), Omar Epps (as Marlon), Nia Long (as Lonette), Gedde Watanabe (as Wing), Jo Yang (as Mrs. Wing), Tara Summers (as Carol), Sam Vincenti (as Felix), Katherine La Nasa (as Uta (as Katherine LaNasa)), Claudette Mink (as Bitter Girl)

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Description: "A player until he got played"

A cockney womanizer learns the hard way about the dangers of his actions.

Comment: The tagline for the new film 'Alfie' ask us, what's it all about? The answer, unfortunately, is that it's about sheer disappointment.

The film focuses solely on Alfie Elkins, a swinging young womanizer packed with style and a charm that could only be British. After an all too brief introduction to our protagonist and his long list of lady-friends, some kind of plot begins to develop – sort of. We move through far too many completely unrelated situations, all of which only have any relevance at all because of their connection to our main character.

The film does almost nothing to stay focused on a character or situation long enough to develop anything genuine; one minute we have the beginnings of a story with one girl, the next minute we're on to something completely different. You may hope that the film returns to these unfinished story arcs, but it rarely does. And those special times when the story comes back to something that was left unfinished, the film manages to once again leave the story too quickly, adding further loose ends and unresolved issues.

This episodic structure does give the film a pace that is representational of Alfie's dating life – constantly moving from one thing to another, never letting anything unfold – but this does not work to the advantage of the film. Rather than giving it an interesting structure that parallels the story, it creates confusion and disorientation, and even worse than that – a loss of the empathy for the characters that would be present if the film took the time to develop characters and stories properly.

In fact, just about everything in the film lacks conviction, particularly in the places where it is needed the most; moments that should provoke emotion tend to leave the audience wanting something more substantial, which once again is an issue with the film's poor use of development.

If it weren't for Jude Law's charming performance as Alfie Elkins, the film would collapse entirely under its own poor craft. Of course, this is not at all to say that Law saves the film; he does nothing of the sort. His performance, strong as always, just happens to stop the film from being a complete waste of time. His energy is strong and his talent is clear, but it is not enough to bring the film to that next level of quality.

The photography and cinematography, while positively beautiful at times, is staggeringly inconsistent and often not at all fitting to the film's needs. Portions of the film are very nicely photographed, which almost seems like a waste of talent. A spiffy paint job on a car may be appealing to the eye, but why even bother if the car doesn't have an engine? This is precisely what Alfie is all about: some nice looks and a fairly strong performance, but sadly there is no engine to be found.

IMDB TRIVIA FOR ALFIE (2004):
- When filming was taking place in Manchester, England in 2003, a local resident who lived across the street recorded set construction, and on-set activity from his window with a camcorder. When the director, Charles Shyer, found out the local resident was doing this he threatened to "sue his ass" but the resident reminded him that they were filming outside his very house.
- According to director Charles Shyer, in the shot where Alfie (Jude Law) punches a car windshield, Law actually cracked the windshield. Apparently, the actor wasn't able to put as much effort into punching it until Shyer told him to imagine that it was the paparazzi. As a result, Law punched so hard that a sledgehammer had to destroy the cracked windshield.
- Alfie's Vespa is painted blue and white as an inside joke. The colors pay homage to Jude Law's favorite football team, Tottenham Hotspur.
- Susan Sarandon gave pictures of herself in the 1970s to British artist Russel Oxley, who used them to paint an acrylic portrait of her character, supposedly from that era. After filming, the canvas went home with Sarandon.
- Nia Long who plays Lonette had a no-nudity clause in the contract for this film.
- Billie Piper auditioned for the role of Nikki.
- Director Charles Shyer was inspired by the skinny suits that the Beatles wore in A Hard Day's Night (1964) for Alfie's wardrobe and the brown sweater that Alfie wears in several scenes was Jude Law's own.

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