Alfie (2004)

Director:

Charles Shyer

Writers (WGA):

Bill Naughton (play)
Bill Naughton (earlier screenplay)

Release Date:

5 November 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

A player until he got played

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Sex | Best Friend | Womanizer | Limousine | British

Awards:

Won Golden Globe. Another 3 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

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

Also Known As:

Untitled Alfie Remake (USA) (working title)
Untitled Charles Shyer Project (USA) (working title)
What's It All About, Alfie? (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for sexual content, some language and drug use.

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Taiwan:R-12 | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Canada:PG (Nova Scotia) | Portugal:M/12 | South Korea:18 | Malaysia:18SX (DVD) | Malaysia:(Banned) (theatrical) | Germany:12 (f) | Sweden:Btl | New Zealand:M | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Brazil:16 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Finland:K-11 | Iceland:12 | Ireland:15 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:11 | Peru:14 | Philippines:R-13 | Singapore:M18 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Zurich) | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #40817)

Filming Locations:

England, UK

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

This was the first of two films that featured Jude Law in a role originally played by Michael Caine. The second was Sleuth (2007).

Goofs:

Continuity: Outside the cafe after meeting Julie, Alfie's scarf disappears and reappears between shots.

Quotes:

Alfie: What have I got? Really? Some money in my pocket, some nice threads, fancy car at my disposal, and I'm single. Yeah... unattached, free as a bird... I don't depend on nobody and nobody depends on me... My life's my own. But I don't have peace of mind. And if you don't have that, you've got nothing. So... what's the answer? That's what I keep asking myself. What's it all about? You know what I mean?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Jude Law/Ashlee Simpson (#30.3)" (2004)

Soundtrack:

The Beat Goes On

fashionable

Two remarks on the quite good experience this film is:

-one is the visual aspect of the thing. This is a visual tapestry, each scene has its own visual strenght, and could actually be enjoyed on its own, but all together they make an impression on you. Every affair in Alfie's life has its own visual treatment, according to the mood of it. Colours, and camera work are elements taken care of. Watching the extras, one gets the impression that artistic values were something in the minds of theses guys, but i'll credit Ashley Rowe a great deal for what was done here. The colours are something in the line of what Chris Doyle might do. IT's interesting how Jude Law fits well this kind of photography, we saw him in similar situation in the recent 'my blueberry nights'.

-the other thing is the story telling device. I haven't seen the original, so i may be commenting on something that happens already in that one, but i would bet not. Alfie speaks to the camera, he speaks to us. He denounces the staging all this is, and the artificiality of cinema in itself (lush, but artificial photography underlines this). The film is episodic in its nature, every women is an episode, but we know Alfie is our narrator, as we get every feeling directly from his mouth. Jude Law is a very interesting actor, one of the good actors we have these days, and he delivers, he knows how little dramatic and exaggerated he has to be in order to make this work. The success of this strategy is to make us assume Law's words as a dialog between him and us, instead of a monologue like, say, Depp in 'The Libertine'. Jude Law knows it, he pauses the speech, and intonate as if he was chatting, instead of narrating. Very good.

Jude Law is a character in himself, even through fashion. In this film he was at the beginning of a relation with Sienna Miller, they're seen in a collection of clips reading Vogue together. This is no innocent. Actually it is a very clever way to build they're own public personalities out screen.

Oh and we have a story. A playboy, single man, with his life centered on women, searching for true affection, living love as episodes and suffering from the consequences of his irresponsibility. It's a mere excuse to unfold visual storytelling. Some women, though are interesting. We have Tomei, we have Miller, we have Sarandon, who, though being limited as an actress, is well placed in the film.

My opinion: 4/5

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