ALFIE by Charles Shyer

by Andre Soares | | Leave a Comment     

 

Alfie (2004)

Directors: Charles Shyer. Screenplay: Elaine Pope and Charles Shyer, from Bill Naughton’s 1964 play and 1966 screenplay, which were based on Naughton’s own 1962 radio play, Alfie Elkins and His Little Life. Cast: Jude Law, Susan Sarandon, Marisa Tomei, Jane Krakowski, Omar Epps, Sienna Miller, Nia Long

 

IT’S ALL ABOUT VERY LITTLE, REALLY

Jude Law in Alfie by Charles ShyerA major financial flop that received — at best — mixed reviews, Charles Shyer’s Alfie remake deserved better. This dramatic comedy about a thirty-something supreme narcissist who must shag every good-looking woman in sight until he is taught a Lesson is no worse than other trendy, moralizing films like the well-received About a Boy and Bridget Jones’ Diary. In fact, Alfie is actually better than these two and than most of the product currently being churned out by film studios and independent filmmakers everywhere — which is not saying much, of course. Indeed, despite its good intentions, a charming star turn by Jude Law, and beautiful cameos by Susan Sarandon and Marisa Tomei, Alfie can’t really be called a good movie. It passes the time the way its lead character passes his time: taking its voyeuristic audience from bed to limo backseat, doing lots of wink-winking, and pretending to offer depth and intimacy when all that the filmmakers are really willing to give us is a pleasant but inconsequential lay.

Bill Naughton adapted his own play for the 1966 film directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring Michael Caine. In that version, Alfie is an embittered, lower-class jerk who calls women "birds" and refers to them using the pronoun "it," his only real friend being a cute mutt that follows him around the streets of Swinging London. With its vivid portrait of a place and an era, the film struck a chord with audiences in Britain and abroad; Caine became a star, and was nominated for an Academy Award along with Naughton, Vivien Merchant (as the woman who has an abortion), the hit song (by Burt Bacharach and Hal David), and the film itself.

The mutt is nowhere to be found in the 2004 version. That may seem mean on the part of writers Elaine Pope and Charles Shyer — what? Alfie hasn’t a single friend left at the end? — but then again, Jude Law’s Alfie has so much more going for him than Caine’s ever did. He has magazine-cover looks, a sparkling smile, great clothes, a bubbly personality, and a rosy outlook on life. He doesn’t have sex with women as a misogynistic act of aggression or as a form of class-conscious self-affirmation. Sexual intercourse with the liberated women of 2004 New York City is all for (mutual) fun.

This Alfie also has a good heart. When he crosses the line, as when he impregnates the girlfriend (Nia Long) of one of his good friends (Omar Epps), he feels really sorry afterwards. Sure, this Alfie is a sort of cad — but he’s such a cute, likable one. And still he must pay for having all those multiple partners: besides the threat of impotence and even cancer in his genital area (AIDS is less of an issue because Alfie is a regular condom user), there are the inevitable rejections that take place several times throughout the narrative. The beautiful and mature Julie (Marisa Tomei), for instance, goes her own way and finds another boyfriend long before the final fadeout. Poor, lonely Alfie can only look from a distance at the intimacy his former girlfriend shares with her new man.

Even though that scene works well because of Law’s and Tomei’s touching, subtle playing, this softening up of Alfie’s character ultimately detracts from the film. Since Shyer and Pope desperately want us to like Alfie, they refrain from revealing this man’s selfish heart in all its coldness. Friends, no matter how drunk, don’t shag friends’ girlfriends. In Alfie, however, it’s just a blood-alcohol-level accident. No harm intended. This 2004 Alfie is such a nice cad that when hot and horny older woman Susan Sarandon (politely) tells him off in a touching scene — thanks to Sarandon’s superbly controlled playing — her blunt honesty seems uncalled for. Why would she want to hurt poor, little Alfie’s feelings?

Now, considering that Sarandon’s character has been successfully playing Alfie’s game for even longer than he has — and has been doing quite well at it, thank you — where did her moral high ground come from? Nearly forty years of feminism is the answer. According to Alfie, it’s ok for an experienced woman of the world to act like a cad, but if it’s a man doing the same thing, no matter how puppy-doggishly cute and cuddly the guy in question, he must pay for it. Call it Hollywood karma: retribution for all the machismo-on-film of past and present. Thus, while fifty-something Sarandon finds herself a cute kid, Alfie ends up all alone. That, however, may not be such a bad comeuppance if one compares his plight to that of the psychotically dysfunctional couple working at the limo office. Charles Shyer, Elaine Pope, and company may not think so, but sometimes being alone — and/or having multiple partners — can be more satisfying than being in a relationship simply for the sake of being with someone — anyone.

What keeps Alfie from drowning in the mushiness of its moralizing message are two ingredients in the film — one good, one bad. The bad one is Charles Shyer’s penchant for using alienating freeze-frames and quick cuts as a representation of trendy filmmaking. The good ingredient is Jude Law. The British sex symbol is a generally competent actor who’s been getting a big buildup of late. Even though his 2004 movies have all been major box-office disappointments, Law himself doesn’t disappoint as the womanizing Englishman losing himself inside Manhattanites Sarandon, Tomei, Long, Jane Krakowski, and Sienna Miller. Even the absence of a fourth wall between the audience and the film’s lead, always a dangerous proposition, succeeds remarkably well in Alfie because of Law’s consummate Cary Grant-like charm. It’s easy to believe that all those women would fall for this lovable horndog, whose chief concern is to keep on trying to satisfy his insatiable ego and libido.

What’s it all about? Agreeable, superficial, glitzy filmmaking trying to pass for a heartfelt depiction of 21st-century relationships. Or perhaps it’s all about an animal-rescue promo disguised as a film: Adopt Alfie as a pet.

 

Synopsis:

Alfie (Jude Law) is a good-looking, charming Englishman in his thirties earning a living as a limo driver in New York City. A major exhibitionist, Alfie talks directly to the audience about the many happenings and mishaps in his life. And there are plenty of those, for he is an inveterate womanizer who uses his job not only to make money but also to make sexual conquests. Whether in the limo or elsewhere, those include Lonette (Nia Long), the girlfriend of one of Alfie’s best friends, Marlon (Omar Epps); Julie (Marisa Tomei), a sweet-natured, thirty-something mother who is getting tired of Alfie’s obvious lies and escapades; and Alfie’s match, Liz (Susan Sarandon), a middle-aged woman who is as confident of her own sexuality and seductive powers as he is.

Little by little, Alfie learns that there are consequences for those who indiscriminately bed women of different ethnicities, age groups, and social strata. After one evening of too much drinking, he impregnates Lonette. An abortion would be the only way to keep Marlon in the dark about the betrayal. Alfie gets another scare when he discovers he may have cancer in, of all places, his genital area. And let’s not forget an erection issue.

Although he keeps falling back on his Alfie, the Conqueror, persona, the not-so-young-anymore Manhattanite eventually learns that treating women like penis receptacles is not acceptable behavior. He feels the pain when the tables are finally turned on him — and he has no one to turn to for solace.

 

DVD:

Alfie Region 1 DVD (U.S. / Canada / U.S. territories) features:

  • Picture: Choice of anamorphic widescreen - 1.85:1 or full screen - 1.33:1, pan and scan
  • Audio: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (Dolby 2.0 Surround Sound), French (Dolby 2.0 Stereo)
  • Subtitles: English, Spanish
  • Closed captioning
  • Commentary by writer/director Charles Shyer and film editor Padraic McKinley
  • Audio commentary by writer/director Charles Shyer and writer/producer Elaine Pope
  • 8 deleted scenes with optional commentary by writer/director Charles Shyer and film editor Padraic McKinley
  • 5 featurettes: Script, production and storyboard galleries
  • Production gallery
  • Storyboard gallery
  • Script gallery

List price: US$29.95.

A Paramount Home Entertainment release.

Region 2 DVD (Europe, Japan, South Africa and the Middle East including Egypt) release in the United Kingdom.

Features:

  • Picture: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.85:1
  • Audio: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (Dolby 2.0 Surround Sound)

A Paramount Home Entertainment release.

 

Notes:

Bill Owen starred in Bill Naughton’s 1962 BBC radio play, Alfie Elkins and His Little Life. In the play, the action spanned about two decades, from the beginning of World War II to the late 1950s.

In 1964, Bill Naughton turned his radio play into a stage play at London’s Mermaid Theatre. Alfie was played by John Neville. Glenda Jackson, future Oscar winner (Women in Love, A Touch of Class) and Labor government minister, was also in the cast.

Michael Caine starred in the 1966 film adaptation, Alfie, directed by Lewis Gilbert and with a screenplay by Bill Naughton. Others in the 1966 cast were Shelley Winters, Vivien Merchant, Jane Asher, and Shirley Anne Field. In the 2004 version, Susan Sarandon takes over Winters’ role, while Nia Long plays a variation of the Merchant character.

A 1975 sequel of sorts, Alfie Darling, starred Alan Price as Alfie. Ken Hughes (The Trials of Oscar Wilde, Sextette) directed.

 

JFK

MARATHON MAN

VOCES INOCENTES / INNOCENT VOICES

MATCH POINT

MUNICH

ALEXANDER

CLOSER

YESTERDAY

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MULHOLLAND DR.

 

by Andre Soares | February 21, 2005 | Filed Under American Cinema / Hollywood, Film, Film Reviews 

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