Alfie | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | Charles Shyer |
Produced by |
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Written by |
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Based on |
Alfie by Bill Naughton |
Starring | |
Music by | |
Cinematography | Ashley Rowe |
Edited by | Padraic McKinley |
Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date
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Running time
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105 minutes |
Country |
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Language | English |
Budget | $60 million |
Box office | $35.2 million |
Alfie is a 2004 British-American romantic comedy-drama film based on the 1966 British film of the same name, starring Jude Law as the title character, originally played by Michael Caine. The film was written, directed, and produced by Charles Shyer.
Alfie (Jude Law) is a Cockney limo driver who regularly beds and discards beautiful women. In addition to maintaining a casual relationship with a single mother named Julie (Marisa Tomei) that he refers to as his "semi-regular-quasi-sort-of-girlfriend thing", he also sleeps with various girls on the side, such as the unhappily married Dorie (Jane Krakowski). At the first inkling Dorie wants something more than casual sex, he decides to block all contact.
Alfie wants to go into business with his coworker and best friend, Marlon (Omar Epps), but Marlon is preoccupied with trying to win back his ex-girlfriend, Lonette (Nia Long). Marlon asks Alfie to put in a good word with Lonette. Alfie meets with her at a bar to persuade her to get back together with Marlon - and ends up having sex with her on a pool table. Alfie meets with Marlon the next day, terrified that he knows about their indiscretion, but is relieved when Marlon says he and Lonette got back together.
Alfie goes to Julie's place for another booty call, but she throws him out after confronting him about his affair with Dorie, which she learned about after finding the other woman's panties in his laundry. Alfie soon gets another unpleasant surprise: Lonette is pregnant with his child. Without telling Marlon, they visit a clinic and arrange for her to have an abortion. Soon afterwards, Marlon and Lonette unexpectedly move upstate without even saying goodbye to Alfie.
Following repeated failures to achieve an erection with various women, he visits a doctor who tells him he is perfectly healthy, and that his impotence is due to stress. However, the doctor also locates a lump in Alfie's testicle that may be cancerous. Alfie immediately has a test run at the clinic and spends a few anxious days awaiting the results. During one of his trips to the hospital, Alfie meets a widower named Joe (Dick Latessa) in the clinic bathroom. Joe imparts some life advice to the depressed Alfie: "Find somebody to love, and live every day like it's your last". Soon afterwards, Alfie finds out he doesn't have cancer.