This updating of the 1966 Michael Caine classic finds our roguish Alfie (Jude Law) working as chauffeur in Manhattan, luring the lovelies with his British accent and well-cut suits, while never ever falling for nonsense like commitment. Law is charming -- if you go for that love-me-I'm-adorably-naughty type -- and he does what he can with a hackneyed love-'em, leave-'em, oops-now-I'm-lonely narrative. The original Alfie was a cynical snapshot of its time -- mucky stuff (like class) found under the pretty rocks of Swingin' London. Alfie 2004 simply plays like another bad episode of The Bachelor, with a very special ending. And apparently without irony the film features new songs from that aging Swingin' '60s libertine Mick Jagger, still plying the same swaggering trade, but now with more wrinkles and considerably less meaning. (AH)
