Coverage:

Alfie gets off to a very promising start as Jude Law gives a great and vibrant performance as a British philandering womanizer living in Manhattan. He is an unapologetic bastard who uses his charm and disarming smile to get women – lots of them. With so many choices out there, Alfie simply can’t settle just for one and when a woman gets too attached, Alfie soon disappears – he just can’t help it, he is performing his civic duty to these lonely hearts, he claims. Marisa Tomei, Jane Krakowski, Susan Sarandon and Sienna Miller pay his bevy of beauties, each utilized for a specific purpose. Julie (Tomei), as his semi-permanent girlfriend is at a stage where she wants a commitment and has a son from a previous relationship who Alfie is somewhat attached to. Dorie (Krakowski) is the neglected wife of an overworked businessman. Liz (Sarandon) is a Manhattan socialite, a female representation of Alfie and Nikki (Miller) is a wild party girl who arrives just when Alfie dreaded the prospect of spending Christmas alone. In his never ending quest to conquer the female population, Alfie makes a consequential mistake when he seduces cocktail waitress Lonette (Nia Long), an x-girlfriend of his best pal Marlon, played by Omar Epps, who seems to be the only consistently stable person in Alfie’s life. Law is perfect in this lead role. Adopting the trickery of talking to the camera with remarkable ease, he effortlessly delivers the dialogue smoothly and effectively, pausing frequently to look at the audience with an impish, cocky smile as he justifies his actions. This camera technique was used to great effect by Caine in the original. The original flick made Michael Caine a star and although this modern version pays homage to the original – sticking with format and storylines (with just a few minor tweaks), it falls short of excellence but it is worth a peek if only to glimpses Law's brilliant performance, as he does a marvelous job of making Alfie simultaneously likable.