The big issue when it comes to all remakes, but especially the updated Alfie, is how smooth a transition can an old screen favorite make when faced with how much times have changed since the original. And the greatest hurdle in the case of Alfie, is that this reimagining of the 1966 controversial UK classic about a compulsive ladies man, would have to be just as seductive with the audience, no matter how much either the times or come-on lines have changed.
Jude Law couldn't be more feisty and drunk on testosterone as the new Alfie, a Brit limo driver living in NY who can't stop himself from passing up any chance opportunity to hit on a woman within ten feet. Alfie does anchor his serial flinging now and then, with regular visits to vulnerable single mom Julie (Marie Tomei), who is not happy in the least about any of this. Alfie's odd version of commitment to Julie and her kid are really all about playing house and pretend dad without responsibility, during lean times with the random babes.
But Alfie does cross one too many lines when he attempts to mediate between his best friend Marlon (Omar Epps) and Marlon's longtime girlfriend Lonette (Nia Long) who has dumped him, and instead ends up unable to resist her charms himself on a bar pool table.
When Lonette ends up pregnant and unsure of the father, but not into abortions, Alfie is pressured into rethinking his wayward life, no matter how much fun it's all been.
Then there's that limited shelf life for career studs looming over Alfie's existence. A mucholder, fabulously wealthy female Alfie and full time flirt that he gets mixed up with (Susan
Sarandon) may already be on the prowl for younger goods. And Julie has finally decided to look for the real thing in a new husband and father to her kid, inside of an eager part timer.
While many of the elements in the original Alfie remain and heat up the story with lots of energy and spark, there are other key factors that go along with the changing times, that are
basically ignored here. Take the women, for instance. After all that mass liberating that has gone on since the 1960s, women especially in a big city, are sharper and definitely more on
to the machinations of those conniving Alfie wannabes out there. Then there's no mention of the repercussions of AIDS since then, which should have made Alfie think twice at least
once.
Jude Law, though lacking the more rugged masculinity and raw sensuality of Michael Caine's alluring Alfie, gets by here on sheer sexual enthusiasm and that unmistakable 24 hour, ready-for-duty party animal mentality. The movie may have traded in some of the
somber reflection for a comic breeziness, but there's a vivacious sincerity in its upbeat tone that keeps this Alfie endearing even at his most irritating. RATING: THREE.

Prairie Miller