Alfie (1966)

Very disappointing...

Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Alfie is a young man in sixties London who attracts a string of beautiful women despite the fact that he treats them poorly. When one of them gets pregnant he isn't too happy but she says she will have the baby adopted… but when the time comes she decides to keep the little boy. Alfie isn't willing to be a full time father but he likes the lad and sees him every weekend. A couple of years pass then she decides she wants more and marries another man. Around the same time Alfie discovers that he has a shadow on his lungs and must live in a sanatorium in the country… he doesn't stop his womanising ways though and it isn't long before it is getting him in more trouble.This film is a classic from the 'Swinging Sixties' but is definitely of its time. Michael Caine does a fine job in the lead role… unfortunately his character is hard to like thanks to his very dated attitudes. Referring to women as 'birds' is just slightly dated slang but using the pronoun 'It' must have been offensive even then! This of course makes it rather satisfying when one of his women gets a younger lover. There are comedy moments, notably a bar fight, but also some real tragedy involving an illegal abortion. Much of the dialogue is Alfie talking directly to camera as he tells the viewer his various ideas… mostly about women; this could have been irritating but I found it effective and sometimes comic. The supporting cast do an impressive job; these include Julia Foster, the woman who bears his child; Jane Asher, an attractive young redhead he dates for a while; Shelley Winters as an older American woman and Vivien Merchant who plays the wife of another patient at the sanatorium. Overall I'd certainly recommend this even if it does feel a bit dated it is an interesting look at sixties' attitudes.

ALFIE is a somewhat dated, but still engaging dramedy, with a star-making performance by Michael Caine. The film is about Alfie, a Cockney ladies' man with commitment issues, and the audience is personally led through his life by him breaking the fourth wall and addressing us directly. This is useful on a couple of levels. First, it is amusing that he can do that without his female companions being any wiser, but it also allows the viewer to connect with him in a much deeper way. As Alfie is a rather unlikeable character, save for a couple scenes where he shows some genuine emotion, the way in which he directly communicates with the audience is key in laying bare the character's motivation, regardless of whether or not you agree with what he does. Early on in the film, there is a sly comedic tone set which carries throughout most of the running time, until it takes a turn for the melodramatic. I didn't particularly like the direction it went, but it did serve a narrative and character-building purpose. I also felt like Alfie's comeuppance was handled rather well. Overall, this was a good movie, though occasionally slightly tedious. Michael Caine's performance is the real draw here. Still, there was a nice soundtrack and closing credits song by Cher. Despite some rather dated morals, I felt that this was a good character study of someone who knows how to make love, but doesn't know how to love.

Alfie is a good movie with a well written storyline and a terrific cast.A lot of people told me that this was a good movie but it was very dated,and to be honest I don't think that's true,the dialogue and the characters personalities is still something that holds up in today's world,I know many people that behave like Alfie and some of the other characters.The movie dosen't really have a story to follow,you're basically just following Alfie as we see him question his lifestyle,but Michael Caine has the like-ability factor for us to be very much able to just follow him around and speak to the audience,which was actually my favourite part of the movie because they pulled off breaking the fourth wall very well.Alfie isn't laugh out loud comedy,but it's funny and also dramatic at times and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good comedy if you ever see it on television. An amoral hedonists series of amorous adventures lead to him realising he is lonely.Best Performance: Michael Caine Worst Performance: Jane Asher

Crumbs. I was expecting a light period vehicle for the carousing Michael Caine. Instead I got tough social realism, with no small amount of satire. It's also a technically interesting film with Caine addressing the audience directly by speaking into the camera. He remains in character, speaking in soliloquy rather than stepping outside the drama. It's effective, at once establishing the link of charm with the audience that might otherwise have been at a distance between characters, and makes the pain of the weave of stories all the more vivid.Alfie is not an unreconstructed Lothario. He's just self-deluded, mixing up his own, genuine growing pains with a warped, self-centred logic. Equally, the film isn't a proto-feminist tract. Although the women involved are independent characters the drama isn't ideological but domestic. Though the behaviour of the women from the contemporaneous London film Blow-Up is similar the two films are polar opposites in terms of their reach, Antonioni making a sublime thriller, Lewis Gilbert going inside, looking for the dramatic gemstone in the kitchen sink.He finds it, too. Caine is strong in Alfie (justly Oscar-nominated), notably when faced with the fall-out - literally - of another of his casual conquests. The support acting is mixed. Shelley Winters, Julia Foster and Vivien Merchant stand out from the women, with Denholm Elliott making a short but heavyweight appearance at the crucial juncture. London also features nicely too, although it still has a Dickensian gloom, not least with many shots with Thames-side industry for a backdrop (something that the enterprising Antonioni manages to escape). 6/10