What's it All About?

This 2004 film is a re-make by Charles Shyer of the 1966 film starring Michael Caine, this time with Jude Law in the title role, and the location moved to Manhattan (but Alfie's still English). I have not seen the original, so I cannot compare them. I have also never really liked Law as a romantic lead, which is just as well as this isn't really a romantic film.

Alfie is an eternal womanizer who is looking for something else, but can't quite put his finger on it. Will he find it before it is too late? Throughout the film he addresses the camera directly, and I found this a tad annoying, especially as it sometimes interrupted the (albeit limited) conversational dialogue. His shallow shagging around New York, at times, seems as empty and pointless to the viewer as it does to Alfie, although the film is ultimately quite melancholic. One of Alfie's plans to find deeper meaning in his life is to start his own business with best friend, and fellow chauffeur, Marlon (Omar Epps) but we never really find out what this new venture is (I assume it is another chauffeuring business). We just see him having a quickie with one lady Dorie (Ally McBeal's Jane Krakowski) but making excuses as she appears to become attached to him, he then heads off to regular girlfriend, single mother Julie (Marisa Tomei) who is always pleased to see him, and who he essentially takes for granted until she discovers what he has been up to. Alfie then lurches from a one night stand with Marlon's girlfriend Lonette (Nia Long) to a relationship with manic depressive Nikki (Sienna Miller) and an affair with charismatic older woman Liz (Susan Sarandon), on some sort of path of self-destruction as he refuses to acknowledge what is wrong with his life. Should he find what he wants, and should it work out for him, and other such details I will leave for you to discover should you watch the film.

The film is not heavy on plot, although to be fair, there is more to the movie than I have mentioned above. Attempts are made for the viewer to empathise with Alfie, as he does feel remorse when he makes a mess of things. Most dialogue is Alfie talking to the camera directly, and this is not my preferred way of watching a film, I don't really like it narrated like that, although that is a personal thing, and others may not be bothered by that. Very few of Alfie's ladies have much depth. Sienna Miller's character Nikki was most disappointing for me, as her character's mood swings meant that there was so much more potential than was portrayed, in fact her part of Alfie's story was told in interestingly lit, flickery clips that resembled a pop video rather than a feature film. So much more could have been done with this character. I liked Marisa Tomei's Julie, she was a sweet character who seemed quite normal and she (as did Nia Long and Susan Sarandon) did manage to make her character a bit more than two-dimensional, which is not easy given the limited screen time each one had. Law did everything asked of him; I don't think he has the right 'cheeky chappy' type persona that would make the ideal Alfie for me. Again this is a personal preference, in that Law has disappointed me more often than not with some of his more recent films.

What I probably loved most about the film was the soundtrack written my David A Stewart (formally of The Eurythmics) and Mick Jagger with most vocal performances done by Jagger and Joss Stone. I thought it really suited the film, tracks were poppy and catchy and the soundtrack CD alone would probably be great and work out of context. The film is very stylish in its direction and there were a number of key 'mood' words displayed on billboards and as signs in the background. Essentially I enjoyed the film, but I cannot rave about it. It is something a bit different in its direction and production style, with a great soundtrack, which is why I ultimately will recommend it.

The film is a 15 certificate, which I think is fair with a small amount of nudity, sexual and drug references. The running time is a little over an hour and a half. My DVD rental copy contained no extras.

Top 10 iTunes

1. Snow Patrol - Crazy in Love
2. Paul Weller - You Do Somthing To Me
3. Jennifer lopez - Let's get Loud
4. Blu Cantrell Feat. Sean Paul - Breathe
5. Jennifer lopez - Get Right
6. Sugababes - Killer
7. In Deep - Last Night a DJ Saved My Life
8. The Style Council - Promised LAnd
9. The Three Degrees - Givin' Up Givin' In
10. Rufus & Chaka Khan - Ain't Nobody

St Stephens

St Stephens 3
Originally uploaded by Essexgirl

Inside St Stephen's Chuch, Budapest

Find Something Better to Do for 90 Minutes

I am a big Brit Flick fan. I think the British have made some fantastic films over the years, at the same time there have been a few duds that have got though on the back of a successful genre. The Rom-Com (Romantic-Comedy) has to have been one of the most commercially successful genres of recent years with films like Love Actually, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones et al doing their bit for the British economy at the Box Office. Hoping to follow in their footsteps (and sadly failing miserably) is Confetti.

Comedian Jimmy Carr (host of '8 Out of 10 Cats') plays Antoni the owner of Confetti, a top bridal magazine, he and editor Vivienne (Felicity Montague - Alan Partridge's long suffering assistant) come up with a Most Original Wedding competition idea and start the audition process. They narrow it down to three themed weddings, to be organised by wedding planners' Gregory and Archie:

The 'Hollywood Musicals' couple. Tone-deaf Sam and Matt (Jessica Stevenson and The Office's Martin Freemen) dream of a Hollywood Musical style wedding where their family and friends join in on a show-stopping production. They are ably unassisted by Sam's interfering mum (Alison Stedman playing to type) and attention seeking sister.

The 'Tennis' Couple. Josef and Isabelle (Stephen Mangan and Meredith MacNeill) are huge tennis fans who are extremely competitive and desperate to win the contest, that they will do almost anything. They also want Cliff Richard to sing at their wedding.

The 'Naturist' Couple. Michael and Joanna (Robert Webb and Olivia Colman) want to be naked for their wedding. Joanna is new to naturism and isn't convinced she wants to be naked in front of too many people though, especially her mother.

The film is done as a mock 'documentary' and apparently was improvised. They really should have scripted it, or got in some more original actors because, quite simply, the film just isn't funny. The film is directed and 'written' (i.e. conceived) by Debbie Isitt, who I am not familiar with. I was also not familiar with half the cast, but a check on IMDB (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427089/) shows that most of them have appeared on the TV programme 'Peep Show'. I have not seen this show, but it does smack a bit of an 'Old Boy' network. I would have thought that at least meant there was some chemistry between the couples, if the actors knew each other well. Sam and Matt came across as the only couple even slightly realistic, the rest were nothing more than bad caricatures. The supporting cast of friends and family members were at best, irritating and at worst, amateur stereotypes. One small saving grace were the two wedding planners Archie and Gregory, but they were far from able to hold this dire, predictable film together. The ending (as far as who wins) is also predictable, although they do try hard to attempt to offer you some suspense, but to be honest by this time I didn't actually care. The whole premise of the film and so much more potential for comedy than the final result, I feel this was one big wasted opportunity.

The extras include three alternative endings so you can see what happens if another couple won, and a different ending with the same winners. There are also a few featurettes which appeared to be extra footage of the wedding planners which may be entertaining but I was not prepared to waste any more of my life.

It has a 15 certificate - not to be watched if you are uncomfortable with full-frontal nudity.