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I know that the 2004 Paramount Pictures release called Alfie is a remake of a 1966 movie of the same name, but I've never seen the original version, so will not be making any comparisons to it in this review.

The 2004 version of Alfie stars Jude Law in the title role. He plays a womanizing limo driver who realizes that his life, which mostly consists of bedding an endless string of women who ultimately mean nothing to him, is going nowhere.

As the film opens, the viewer immediately sees that this will be a different kind of movie. That's because Alfie talks directly to the camera, even in mid-scene, so we feel that we are that much closer to the action. I thought this technique would get tiresome as the film wore on, but it didn't. The main reason for that was the way Jude Law made Alfie a very charming and endearing character. Even though he's perhaps not the best example of a human being that this world has to offer, Alfie was nevertheless likable, and that fact was crucial to the success of the film as a whole.

Being a limo driver seems to suit Alfie very well. He says early on that his goal is not to be the richest man around. Instead, he just needs to earn enough money to cover his expenses -- which, at this point, seem to be Gucci suits and Prada shoes. Dressing well is essential to Alfie's womanizing ways, and here again Law succeeded in making the character believably stylish without going overboard.

There are other perks to Alfie's job. Namely, he gets to meet a lot of high-class women and these are the ones that he hooks up with more often than not. First, there is Dorie (played by Jane Krakowski of Ally McBeal fame), whose husband is a successful businessman that completely ignores her. Next is Julie (Marisa Tomei), a single mother who actually seems to have her life together. Alfie really likes Julie, but doesn't realize it until after she dumps him. Then there is Lonette (Nia Long), the ex-girlfriend of Alfie's best friend Marlon (Omar Epps), whom Alfie ends up impregnating. Other women include the needy, often imbalanced Nikki (Sienna Miller) and Liz (Susan Sarandon), a powerful and successful business tycoon.

The overall tone of the movie was rather depressing as each one of Alfie's encounters serves to show exactly how empty and meaningless his life is. He tries to keep a positive outlook through it all, but we sense that just underneath the surface he's an extremely lonely person and is very scared about ending up completely alone when all is said and done.

Alfie didn't do very well with the critics or at the box office, so I wasn't expecting too much out of this film. But I was surprised at just how much I liked it, and I think a lot of the credit goes to Jude Law. I've seen many other Jude Law films, including the critically acclaimed Cold Mountain, but his performances never impressed me before. Although I won't go so far as to say that I was wowed by his turn as Alfie, I will say that I thought he was perfect in the role. He was good-looking enough to make me believe that these women really would fall for him, and as I mentioned before, he was charming and likable throughout. This movie would have been a complete disaster if the lead role had been miscast, but fortunately that wasn't the case.

The film wasn't perfect by any means. There were several slow spots in it and with a running time of an hour and forty minutes, it felt too long. But there were some genuinely touching moments along the way, and some real humor too. My overall impression was that we were getting an accurate look at what Alfie's life was really like, so I was willing to overlook the uneven feel to the production.

On the whole, I liked Alfie much more than I thought I would because its positive aspects were strong enough to make me forget about the flaws. I recommend that you check this movie out despite the mixed reviews it received. You might be surprised at how much you like it too.