If I learned anything from this movie, it's to be careful about over-applying cologne. As Jude Law, in the title role, tells us in the opening minutes of Alfie, American men tend to take a bath in their fragrances. As the commitment-phobic darling of lots of beautiful women, Law is both entertaining and amusing in this remake of the film made famous by Michael Caine, or I should say, of the film that made Michael Caine famous.

Law, as Alfie, spends most of the movie talking directly to his audience, while whoever happens to share the scene at that moment is rendered motionless. When Alfie is not peering at us directly from the screen, he is narrating what is going on. This becomes a bit tedious, even as it serves to sufficiently explain the points the film drives home. The technique works in this movie because the lines given to Law are a bit cheeky and very tongue-in-cheek. We listen to what his character is saying, and we are amused.

The fact that we eventually feel sorry for Alfie underscores Law's acting ability. We also sympathize with the women who are dumped along the way, but when Alfie ultimately experiences a taste of his own medicine, it's more a case of getting what you deserve. In an ironic twist, the much-older Susan Sarandon, playing a wealthy businesswoman who knows what she wants, turns the tables on a deflated Alfie, and he gets his just desserts.

Alfie is clearly a womanizer, but even womanizers need security. His comes in the person of Marisa Tomei, playing Julie, his single-mom girlfriend, whose young son has found his way into Alfie's heart. Predictably, Julie gets fed up with Alfie's philandering ways (he should have been smarter at getting rid of the incriminating pair of red panties......in his girlfriend's kitchen trash can???) and the only question, other than "What's it all about, Alfie?", is "Will he ever find love by the end of the movie?" And you can wait for the answer.