Whats it all about?
Rating: 6/10
Running Time: 103 minutes
US Certificate: R UK Certificate: 15
You cant help but feel the movie industry has developed something of an obsession with rehashing the high points on Michael Caines CV. Remember, it was just last year that some of us were unfortunate enough to sit through F. Gary Grays appalling take on The Italian Job. And who could forget the bizarre decision hand Sylvester Stallone the lead role in 2000s Get Carter?
This new version of Alfie is, thankfully, much better than either of those other remakes but that couldnt prevent me from wondering why anyone felt the need to make it in the first place. I mean, lets face it, the original Alfie is a film where not a lot actually happens – so the fact that it IS original is fairly important. Dont get me wrong, its not that Im saying its a bad film. Its just that showing us it all again in this day and age seems a completely worthless exercise.
The man fronting that exercise is Jude Law. He steps into Caines shoes as the smooth-talking bed-hopping title character, a 30-something bachelor boy who lives his life like James Bond only without the career. He lives by a love em and leave em philosophy, discarding his used women like Rik Waller discards empty curry cartons, and generally having a bloody good time of it. But, as youd expect, a moral lesson lurks on the horizon, and its not long before his perennial womanizing has left him in a spot of bother with some inner-demons.
Standing on its own, Alfie is a decent enough film. Jude Law wears the character well hes got the good looks to pull the part off and his gradual transformation from carefree man-hussy to self-doubting misery-guts never falls short of believable. Its also accompanied by a cracking original score penned by none other than Mick Jagger and The Eurythmics Dave Stewart. But it doesnt really make the impact it wants to, and doesnt expand enough on the original film to represent either an improvement or a notable variation. Whats it all about? is the question famously posed by Alfie 66, but the query that was more prominent in my mind after watching this one was whats the point?.
It's Got: An impressive string of conquests including Marisa Tomei, Susan Sarandon, Jane Krakowski, Nia Long and Laws real-life bit-of-stuff Sienna Miller.
It Needs: At least ONE of those women to give him the slap its so obvious he needs from the very first scene.
Summary
A reasonable movie, but one thats steeped in irrelevance.