|
|
| While
Alfie's question, "What's it all about?" still hangs in the air at
the end of the movie, the answer seems to lie in the love he has seen
in others' lives and the love he feels like he is missing. It is more
than just a forced act, fake words, or grudgingly executed actions.
Instead love is something that compels us to put another person first,
to allow ourselves to change, to give, to forgive, to protect, to
trust, to hope, and to persevere. |
(2004) Film Review |
| This
page was created on November 8, 2004
This page was last updated on
May 21, 2005
—Review by Elisabeth Leitch
—Trailers, Photos
—About this Film
—Spiritual Connections
—Blog
with Elisabeth
Dial up modems will take a few moments |
| CREDITS |
| Directed
by Charles Shyer
Play by Bill Naughton
Earlier screenplay by Bill Naughton
Screenplay by Elaine Pope& Charles Shyer
 Cast
(in credits order)
Jude Law .... Alfie
Jane Krakowski .... Dorie
Marisa Tomei .... Julie
Omar Epps .... Marlon
Susan Sarandon .... Liz
Sienna Miller .... Nikki
Nia Long .... Lonette
Gedde Watanabe .... Wing
Dick Latessa .... Joe
Renée Taylor .... Lu Schnitman
Jeff Harding .... Phil
Kevin Rahm .... Terry
Max Morris .... Max
Jo Yang .... Mrs. Wing
Tara Summers .... Carol
Sam Vincenti .... Felix
Katherine La Nasa .... Uta
Claudette Mink .... Bitter Girl
Anastasia Griffith .... Chyna
Jefferson Mays .... Dr. Miranda Kulp
Produced
by
Sean Daniel .... executive producer
Diana Phillips .... executive producer
Elaine Pope .... producer
Charles Shyer .... producer
Original Music by David A. Stewart (songs), Mick
Jagger and John Powell
Cinematography by Ashley Rowe
Film Editing by Padraic McKinley
MPAA: Rated R for sexual content,
some language and drug use.
Runtime: USA:103 min
For rating reasons, go to FILMRATINGS.COM,
and MPAA.ORG.
Parents, please refer to PARENTALGUIDE.ORG
|
| TRAILERS
AND CLIPS |
| —Trailers,
Photos |
| POSTER |
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| SYNOPSIS
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|
Yeah, it’s true that Alfie Elkins epitomizes the swinging playboy
bachelor archetype… But, underneath the charm, the bravado,
the swagger… there’s another side… a man who, as
Mick Jagger’s lyrics for “Alfie” so aptly describe...
“won’t let the love in.”
“Alfie”
is the provocative tale of a philosophical womanizer (Jude Law)
who is forced to question his seemingly carefree existence. Ultimately,
his freewheeling lifestyle begins to slowly unravel in this chic,
sexy, stylistic cinematic experience.
Playing
the killer ladies’ man Alfie is two-time Academy Award and
three-time Golden Globe nominee Jude Law. Joining Law are Oscar
winners Marisa Tomei and Susan Sarandon, who portray two of the
many “birds” who succumb to Alfie’s charms.
The
original “Alfie” captured a blend of romp and reality
that was shocking and innovative in its time, and introduced a young
Michael Caine to the world. In this contemporary re-invention, Alfie
is now an irresistible Londoner who has taken up residence in Manhattan,
where he hopes to make his fortune -- and make love to as many beautiful
women as possible. The sophistication of New York City is the perfect
setting for Alfie, who knows that when it comes to shagging birds,
it’s all about one thing… “location, location,
location.” Surrounded by an abundance of gorgeousness and
diversity,” Alfie takes every opportunity to conquer all the
women he can, whenever he can.
Alfie
Elkins (Jude Law) works as a limousine driver, chauffeuring the
wealthy through the streets of Manhattan, and occasionally making
love to his lonely female clients in the backseat. Though he has
his ambitions, he wants only enough to get by, his primary focus
being the pleasures of life -- without any of the responsibilities.
|
 Meet
ELISABETH LEITCH
Elisabeth Leitch is a graduate of the University
of California San Diego with a BA in Literature-Writing. A person
who has always loved movies, she never ceases to be amazed with
the way movies impact viewers by both reflecting and asking questions
about the culture and world in which we live. Currently, Elisabeth
spends her days working in a local bookstore and seeking what God
has in store for her future. She has also worked as a reporter/writer
for the Los Alamos Monitor and the New Mexico Business Journal. |
 Nearly
40 years ago, after over an hour of broken relationships and hard
lessons about life, Michael Caine stared at movie audiences and
posed the question: "What's it all about?" The movie Alfie ended
and Joss Stone began to sing the movie's title track-"What's it
all about, Alfie? Is it just for the moment we live? What's it all
about when we sort it out? Are we here to take more than we give?"
The credits rolled, the music faded, and the screen went black.
Nearly 40 years later, however, the same song that asked Caine's
Alfie what life was all about has begun to play again as a new movie
hits screens introducing Alfie to movie audiences for the second
time, this time as Jude Law.
 While
times, men, women, and relationships have changed since 1966, Law's
Alfie follows a very similar storyline to Caine's. From the moment
both Alfies come on screen, both men quickly establish themselves
as womanizers, ladies' men, players, and men with extreme commitment
issues. More than just a picture of a man behaving in a way that
would hopefully cause most people to cringe, however, both movies
look deeper into the dysfunctional relationships Alfie creates for
himself and push Alfie to figure out what he is actually missing.
Alfie does his best to avoid commitment, love, and dependence of
any sort, but, in they end, both Caine and Law's Alfie unwittingly
seem to find themselves missing and desiring those very things they
avoided.
Opening with a shot of a superman figurine and Alfie's morning recitation
from his word of the day calendar (this day-"ostentatious"), the
movie wastes no time quickly establishing Alfie's value of the superficial
and, even more so, the effort he exerts to keep from becoming committed
in any way. In a casual relationship with the married Dorie (Jane
Krakowski) at the same time that he has what could be a stable and
committed relationship with single mother Julie (Marisa Tomei),
Alfie shows a desire to almost destroy anything that even hints
at commitment. When he comes home to Julie, Alfie barely does anything
to erase suspicions that he is seeing another woman. Replying with
a simple "Thanks baby," to Julie's "I love you," Alfie reveals both
his avoidance of love and tendency to take and never give. Even
in his relationship with Dorie, Alfie is ready to call it off completely
as soon as Dorie "wants a little more than [he] can give."
 At
the same time that Alfie avoids anything remotely like love, it
seems, that even at the beginning of the movie, love is a feeling
Alfie possesses. In Caine's Alfie, Alfie's relationship with the
mother of his child reveals a desire to love through his attachment
to his son. When the woman leaves him and marries another man, Alfie
displays a sense of loss as he watches the other man take over his
role as father. In Law's Alfie, the sadness that appears on Alfie's
face when he passes Julie and her son playing together after they
have broken up reveals a similar attachment to a child who isn't
even his own.
In both movies, however, the majority of Alfie's deepest realizations
occur in connection with his relationship with his friend's girlfriend.
In Caine's Alfie, Alfie has an affair with the wife of his roommate
at a sanitarium. Their affair leads to pregnancy and Alfie arranges
for her to have an illegal abortion in his apartment. When he returns
after the procedure, he is shocked when he sees the baby that has
been aborted as well as the toll that abortion has taken on the
woman. Not only making a powerful and controversial statement about
abortion and the effect it has on human life, the situation adds
to Alfie's sense that he has once again hurt more than helped as
well as missed out on a love relationship he could have had with
a child.
While developed in a different manner, the parallel relationship
in Law's Alfie also seems to cause Alfie to contemplate his life
the most and feel his deepest sense of loss. The set up for this
relationship is a drunken night with his best friend/co-worker's
girlfriend during a temporary split. While Lonette (Nia Long) and
Marlon (Omar Epps) quickly reconcile, Lonette soon finds out she
is pregnant, goes to a clinic for a legal abortion, and immediately
moves away with Marlon. Later, however, Alfie finds out that Lonette
did not have the abortion.
 Adding
this new dimension to that storyline, the whole situation further
brings out Alfie's sense of sadness at hurting a friend and watching
someone else raise his child. More than that, however, the relationship
between Lonette and Marlon gives one of several examples of what
love can really be, a subject that was only briefly explored in
Caine's Alfie. When Alfie goes to visit Lonette and Marlon and sees
the baby that is clearly his, he looks at Lonette and half asks/half
states: "Marlon stayed?" She replies, "For now," and although the
look that Marlon later gives Alfie clearly embodies deep pain, Marlon's
commitment to Lonette reflects a very un-superficial love that both
endures pain and offers forgiveness.
In addition to the example of love shown between Lonette and Marlon,
Law's Alfie brings in two more storylines that further exemplify
what love can be/should be. One is the relationship between Alfie's
boss and his wife. While Alfie refers to their constant state of
arguing as a good reason why people should never marry, when Mrs.
Wing leaves Mr. Wing, Mr. Wing is in tears. As soon as Alfie suggests
Mr. Wing write a poem to win her back, Mr. Wing begins the task
with all his effort. While love may be difficult at times, for Mr.
Wing, it is clearly something worth fighting for.
Perhaps the most interesting addition to Law's Alfie, however, is
an older man named John whom Alfie meets in a bathroom. In the strangely
deep conversation between two men who have just met, John tells
Alfie about the sudden loss of his wife, how he spent his life putting
things off and never realizing what he had, and how, in the end,
he just wishes he had more time with her. As he hands Alfie his
business card and leaves, he shares with Alfie two pieces of advice-one,
find someone to love, and two, live every day of life as if it were
your last.
The next meeting between Alfie and John occurs after Alfie visits
Marlon and finds himself overcome with grief and without any friends.
Once again, John offers a few bits of wisdom. In response to the
seeming incomprehensiveness of Marlon's commitment to stay with
Lonette, John once again affirms the power of love saying, "You
never know what you will do until you are in love." When Alfie sadly
states that he has really messed things up, John makes no hesitation
to agree, but offers hope saying, "The question is-What is going
to happen with the rest of your life?"
At the end of Alfie, even after nearly 40 years in which to find
a sufficient answer to the questions posed in the original, Law's
Alfie asks the same questions that Caine's Alfie asked before Law
was even born. While the movie could be chalked up to the best "I
hate men" break-up movie in a long time, a chick flick to be feared
by every man visiting the theater with his wife or girlfriend, a
depressing example of too many messed up relationships, or a remake
that will never live up to the original-for most people, I believe
it can be much more.
While it is not exactly the same as Caine's Alfie, the elements
that Law's Alfie adds, the changes it makes, and the positive examples
it gives create its own appeal apart from its original counterpart
or stereotypical labels. Although the movie spends a great deal
of time portraying unfulfilling and dysfunctional relationships
that fall far short of suggesting any real love, Alfie's sadness
at what he has missed paired with the examples provided by Marlon
and Lonette, Mr. Wing, and John suggest that love is something that
actually exists and also is not something that should be avoided
at all costs.
 While
Alfie's question, "What's it all about?" still hangs in the air
at the end of the movie, the answer seems to lie in the love he
has seen in others' lives and the love he feels as though he is
missing. It is more than just a forced act, fake words, or grudgingly
executed actions. Instead love is something that compels us to put
another person first, to allow ourselves to change, to give, to
forgive, to protect, to trust, to hope, and to persevere. While
the minimal surface-level "love" Alfie pursues in his own life is
very often the deepest level of care/concern/intimacy many people
are willing to let into their lives, the love that answers Alfie's
question seems to be one that is not afraid to go deeper, risk more,
build one another up instead of tearing each other down, and be
real.
More than just an abstract concept that we each must figure out
own our own, however, this love that asks us to go deeper than surface
level is a love that is offered us all every day, ready to help
us find a life of true fulfillment, offering forgiveness whenever
we mess up, seeking to repair every crack and flaw in our imperfect
lives, and simply asking us to trust in that love and share it with
those around us.
—Blog
with Elisabeth
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| —Blog
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