| Alfie |
| Thoughts: |
| Afterthoughts: |
| Allow me to preface this pre-movie rant with the proclamation that I am not going to see this movie just to drool over Jude Law. He's not really my type. Rilly. I DO, however, love Jane Krakowski and Marisa Tomei and Susan Sarandon and...jeez, how many people are IN this movie? Anyway, it's a remake of a Michael Caine movie made in a time where being suave, sophisticated, and having a woman in every port was every red-blooded male's idea of the pinnacle of achievement. Has much changed? Nope, but at least back in the sixties you might have a chance of finding a suave, sophisticated male in New York City. I've been to the big apple 3 times this year (don't ask) and didn't see one. I'm getting conflicting plotlines from the trailer and the tagline. The tagline that the movie is about a James-Bond-sans-the-PPK-type fellow who soon learns the error of his womanizing ways. The trailer just emphasises the womanizing ways, so is it a movie about conquest or contrition? Normally, I don't like to waste my money on a movie where I am a little foggy as to the plotline, but the drought of good movies is getting to me. Especially the drought of good romantic comedies. I doubt Jude Law has Tom Hanks's skill in the romantic leading man department, but I'll give him a shot. He's still not my type, though. Josh Groban, yes. David Hewlett, yes. Jude Law, no. Rilly. |
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| Picture from IMDB |
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| Do you like character studies? Do you want to see a cad's little black book bite him in the ass? Then, this movie is for you. At the beginning of it, I kept thinking that Alfie was such a jackass but I couldn't stop grinning because Jude Law is just so damn charming. I didn't know whether to like him because of the charm, hate him because he was such a player, or hate myself for liking him. Hee! I love it when a movie does that! Alfie narrates himself going from one woman to the next, explaining the principles behind what he does and life in general as he sees it. Each woman brings out a different aspect of Alfie's personality, making the character much deeper than the beginning of the movie would lead you to believe. He grows. It's a Hollywood movie with a big-name actor that shows the growth of a character! I had to look around me to make sure I wasn't in my apartment watching IFC. It's shot in a manner that's reminscient of a 1960s fashion magazine, which is probably a hold-over from the original movie. Brightly colored freeze frames of the actors layered and used in fast-moving split screens convey passage of time and Alfie even rides around on a little scooter. I kept thinking it was Austin Powers minus the funny, but Mike Meyers did say that Alfie was one of the influences on the character of Austin Powers, so I can't really be too surprised. By the end, you feel sorry for the guy. Not in that awww-you-poor-baby-lemme-hold-you-and-make-it-all-better kind of way. More like a man-does-it-suck-to-be-you kind of way. There's no happy ending in this. There's really no ending, period. It leaves you thinking "'k...what's he going to do now?" Pretty progressive for Hollywood, but considering that I was one of about 4 people in the theater, I doubt Hollywood is going to deliver more of these in the future. It'd be nice if they would, though. If you do go see it, stay through the first part of the credits. I thought this was pretty neat: the credits are done with the same '60s fashion-mag style, but the pics are of the people working on the movie. Not just the actors and actresses, but the costume designer, the editor, the writers...oh, and did you know that Mick Jagger and Dave Stewart (of my mom's favorite band,The Eurythmics) did the music for this movie? |
| My Advice: |
| It's good, but wait until it comes out on DVD. The theater experience isn't necessary to enjoy a good character study like this. Besides, you won't have to fight the sea of 8-year-olds going to see The Incredibles and Polar Express. |