When it comes to remakes some movies are definitely more difficult than others. The original Alfie was about a playboy who blows through women and life without much thought about the damage he causes. While the story sounds timeless, it isn't. The original 1966 Alfie took place in a different world. It was the beginning of the sexual revolution, pre-feminism, pre-AIDS - a more innocent time. Flash forward to 2004 and while there are many men who still fancy themselves playboys and players, the women are a little bit savvier, everyone is a lot more jaded and we all know sex without responsibility is a fantasy.

 Jude Law is an excellent choice to play Alfie. The man is beautiful. His looks and charisma carry this movie as far as they can. The problem with Alfie lies mainly with the women. They were just too naïve and just not believable as 21^st century women. Even against the disarming charms of Jude Law, you'd think some of these women would have been a little more immune or at least aware.

 Of the women, Nia Long and Susan Sarandon come off the best. Both women are given a realistic complexity. Long plays Lonette, the girlfriend of Alfie's best friend, Marlon (Omar Epps). Even she isn't immune from Alfie's charms. But the consequences of their encounter give the film what little depth it has. Sarandon has a nice turn as the older, wiser, female version of Alfie and she gets to be the one that finally gives him what's been coming to him for so long. Marisa Tomei looked great and I would have liked to have seen more of her. By the end, Alfie sees how important she was to him but as the audience, we never saw it. On the other hand, we see way too much of Sienna Miller (Law's real life girlfriend) as the manic-depressive party girl. They could have taken half of her screen time and given it to Tomei.

 Make no doubt about it; this movie is all about Alfie. And like in the original, Alfie spends a lot of screen time talking to us, the audience, directly. While it does serve a purpose, it became more annoying than anything. In 2004, audiences are a little savvier and the talking to the camera trick isn't as innovative as it was in the mid-60's. I just would have liked to see more of what Alfie was telling us, communicated through the story and the characters. For example, Marlon, was supposed to be Alfie's best friend but that relationship never really developed on screen. 

 However, this is one of the most stylish movies I've seen all year. Jude Law looked fantastic in his Prada and Gucci suits. He was the very definition of the metrosexual male. The film's fashion sense was excellent.

 On a side note, it was odd to me that a movie about sex in 2004 skirts any mention of safe sex or AIDS. Sure, he mentions a condom in one scene but it seems that an updated version would have at least given a nod to HIV/AIDS.

The song, "What's it all about, Alfie?" is curiously absent from the movie and by the end of the movie you get the feeling that the answer is still absent for Alfie himself.