Alfie (2004)

Directed by Charles Shyer. Starring Jude Law, Marisa Tomei, Nia Long, Susan Sarandon, Omar Epps, Sienna Miller, Jane Krakowski, Dick Latessa, Renée Taylor. [R]

Redo of the early-career Michael Caine film moves the action from London to New York City but keeps its central character a rakish Cockney lad whose shallow sensibilities and philandering ways keep him busy in the bedroom but bored in life. An overly vain approach, making a stab for irony because honesty is too galling, and a tough sell in a politically-correct marketplace; curiously, Law ‘s version of the role is softer and tamer, yet he comes off as an oilier, more unpleasant cad (perhaps because he seems to be more in denial of who and what he actually is?). Its loose, episodic structural map is plotted by the excessive fourth-wall breaks that seem deluded into thinking that he’s actually slowly gaining wisdom (and some facsimile of integrity), but when the filmmakers aim for “frothy romp” more than “candid deconstruction,” every instinct is abandoned and each supposed lesson evaporates. Alfie mentions his old man, but the old chap never materializes; a photo shows up at the end as the credits roll, though, and no gold stars will be handed out for guessing who it is.

45/100