dougdoepke
Though the 1966 film has a moral point, the repetitive story line seems a little too flat for the two-hour runtime. After all, how many hook-ups with girls does it take to show that lover-boy Alfie only cares about himself. In fact he brags about it to the audience. Surprisingly for the period, Caine's character keeps up a running commentary on his actions the entire runtime. It's that breaking down of the so-called 'fourth wall' by addressing the camera directly that really distinguishes the film. Alfie's a working class bloke who's main activity whether on the job or not, amounts to seducing young women. Because of his good looks and confident manner, he has little trouble. Among his conquests are a delectable Jane Asher (Paul McCartney's real life sweetie), an aging Shelley Winters (a perfect cynical match for Alfie), and a pathetic Vivien Merchant (her plight confuses the overconfident seducer). Moreover, as Alfie's conquests mount so do the human consequences-- abortion, abandonment, etc. So the audience gets to compare at the same time the cad's selfish carelessness with its human cost to others. This, I gather, is the movie's main point. Looks to me as though the flick's an extension of the British cinema's 'kitchen sink' period when working class themes came to predominate. Certainly, Alfie's bad grammar and Cockney accent reflect such background. Anyway, Caine's perfect in the role, which he has to carry through in most every scene. Unsurprisingly, his career got a big boost as a result. I saw the film on first release when it got a lot of bally-hoo, and liked it. Now, I'm not so much engaged probably because the many aspects are no longer cutting edge, leaving the repetitive theme foremost. Also, the dumb barroom brawl now appears a clumsy contrivance aimed at working some action into an otherwise talky narrative.Anyway, the movie's moral may remain a perennial one; but, unfortunately, the narrative has lost much cutting edge over time.
rdoyle29
Caine is Alfie, an unrepentant ladies man who gets close to and uses several women before tossing them away at the slightest sign of complication. He eventually learns that his actions have consequences and that he faces increasingly diminishing options along the path he's chosen. Not exactly a deep film, but one that's elevated by Caine in his career defining performance. Caine walks a very thin line, never letting the audience forget that he's really a creep while simultaneously charming the pants of them with a running narration pitched directly to the audience in 4th wall breaking asides. He pretty much carries the film. It seems like Kubrick must have studied this one while preparing "A Clockwork Orange".
zetes
More swinging '60s London, this time with unrepentant *beep* Michael Caine at the center. Alfie is a shameless philanderer, sleeping with multiple women, some of them married, and narrating his exploits to the audience in asides, referring to the various women as "it"s. Quite a disgusting and unlikable character to center a movie around! Yes, he softens a bit towards the end (a bit), but it's quite hard to not just spend most of the movie despising him. It is, however, a good movie in most ways, and Caine is, unsurprisingly, excellent. The film was popular enough that it received a Best Picture nomination, and Caine received his first Best Actor nomination. Seeing as Shelly Winters is second billed as one of Alfie's more unconventional lovers, I'm shocked that the Academy looked past her (whom the Academy seemed to nominate every time she farted her way into a movie like she does here) and nominated Vivien Merchant for Best Supporting Actress. She plays one of Alfie's married lovers, the one who is forced to go through with an abortion during the film's climax. I'm sure the traumatic event is what got her the nom, because she's honestly unmemorable. Millicent Martin and Jane Asher both give better supporting performances than either Winter or Merchant.
grantss
Funny and intriguing movie, yet at the same time often irritating and cringeworthy.Alfie's character was an interesting one. Certainly not a nice one, but interesting, in the sense of "Do/did such jerks/misogynists exist?". Maybe his character was too extreme - surely nobody is so insensitive and self-absorbed.Quite funny at times, though this sometimes was a two-edged sword as you're laughing at some quite obnoxious behaviour. As long as you're laughing at him, not with him, I guess.Great performance from Michael Caine in the lead role. Might be the only time in his life he has played a villain.Supporting cast is great too, especially Shelley Winters, Millicent Martin, Vivien Merchant and Jane Asher. Jane Asher is incredibly beautiful in this movie. Controversial, and probably very un-PC nowadays, yet it works. Alfie's behaviour is not glorified and he has his comeuppance at the end.
AD
