Alfie (2004)

REVIEW
Suave Jude Law is at his dapper best in this contemporary updating of the cheeky 1966 Michael Caine romantic comedy about a likeably smug playboy and the many loves of his unfulfilled life. The setting has shifted from London to fashionable Manhattan, but other than a fleeting reminder of the consequences of unprotected polygamy in the age of STDs, this new Alfie exists in a hermetically sealed time bubble, where the worst thing that could possibly happen to a carefree womanizer is that he’ll get someone pregnant. If you disregard the filmmakers’ alarming naiveté and take this remake at face value, you’ll be charmed by Law’s charismatic reading of the title character (who’s often prone to addressing the audience in direct monologue, a stylistic echo of the original film’s bold break-the-fourth-wall conceit). Co-stars Marisa Tomei, Omar Epps and Nia Long all register appealing performances, but it’s Susan Sarandon who steals the show as an aging rich widow — it's a golden turn from one of our most alluring actresses.