by Moe Zilla

Created on: February 18, 2008   Last Updated: February 19, 2011

"Alfie" was a remarkably entertaining film, with a great script and good acting. It's based on a 1966 movie, which was based on a play, which was based on a novel - but this smart 2004 production made it all seem fresh.

Alfie (played by Jude Law) is a good-looking young single man in New York. Yes, he attracts many women, and he keeps their sincere interest even as he's plotting on how to hop from one to the next. The movie uses a fun device - on his way to meet the women, Alfie addresses the audience with a monologue about what he's thinking. ("Am I wrong, or is there a little 'innocent flirting' going on here?") In the movie's first scene, he's explaining that his latest conquest is getting too serious, which is when he'll make his exit.

It's fun to watch, since every romantic encounter includes a real and genuine character. There's Julie, a sensible single mother (played by Marisa Tomei), and Dorie, a desperately unhappy married woman. Later Alfie commits to a beautiful woman, a fashion model named Nikki, only to discover she has serious emotional problems. And Oscar-winner Susan Sarandon appears as the older business woman who sees Alfie as nothing special - just a good-looking limousine driver who's constantly on the prowl.

And the film finds a meaningful balance between Alfie's pleasure-seeking lifestyle and the more complicated realities of life. One of his conquests becomes pregnant. He endures a period of impotence. A doctor tells Alfie he might have cancer. A sophisticated older woman rejects him. He discovers that a past lover has moved on. Towards the end of the movie, a friend ultimately confronts him with the consequences of his lifestyle. "I never meant to hurt anybody," Alfie begins to say sincerely.

"But you did," his friend replies.

The producers made good choices throughout the film, adding some thoughtful songs in the background co-written and sung by Mick Jagger. One reviewer said the 61-year-old rock star had "lived the experience" - a life of serial womanizing - and his bluesy vocals give the film the perfect world-weary touch to songs like "Old Habits Die Hard" and "Lonely Christmas Without You." ("Personally," Alfie confides, "I've always suspected that everyone else is having a far merrier Christmas than I am...")

Alfie is a fascinating character. "I've never made my own bed," he confesses at one point. All the little details come together to create an unforgettable portrait of a man approaching a moment of truth. "What's the answer?" Alfie asks in the film's final moment.

"That's what I keep asking myself...."

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