Based on the 1966 classic with a “What’s It All About?” updated soundtrack, Jude Law steps into Michael Caine’s shoes without a problem. The problem is another story… The story. Alfie is a cockney cutey, the king of all cads, who relocates to Manhattan where he ‘rarely spends a night in his own flat’. By daytime he’s a limo driver, by day and nighttime he’s a total playboy. He’s every woman’s cheating, obnoxious, nightmare, especially his steady girlfriend (Marisa Tomei) yet he’s so cute, he manages to get away with it. That’s until something happens that stops him dead in his tracks. Susan Sarandon plays the female version of Alfie deserving of a standing ovation and a credit to women over 50. You go girlfriend! But the only thing likeable about Alfie is the charm Law infuses into the role. While he’s sexy, and his character does indeed transition smoothly from stud to guy-with-a-heart, overall there is no story to really sink our teeth into. And like Alfie, the story lacks any substance unless you’re into total womanizing. The only upside is the irony that Alfie does find a real life love (Jude Law ends up falling for Sienna Miller, one of his girly-girls in the movie).
