Alfie

Year: 1966

Grade: C+

Country: UK

Director: Gilbert

Review

it’s not a comedy, it’s certainly not a romance, it’s not a straight drama…it’s like life. also like life the film was filled with ups and downs. one moment i’d think that it was a pretty solid flick, and another i’d be checking my watch to see how much longer it was going to last. at the end alfie sort of sums up what he’s learned during the course of the film and at first i thought this was a sign that the filmmakers didn’t think the audience could figure things out on their own. but after i thought about it, i think that the reason for alfie spelling things out was less to preach to us, and more to show us that he’s learned a bit in the process. i never really sympathized with alfie, though, and that’s where i think the filmmakers lost me. it is possible to make an awful person sympathetic (just watch dial m for murder), but this film didn’t really do it. there are times when caine is funny or is being cute, but he’s never really sympathetic. i don’t really know what the film was attempting, but i don’t think it succeeded.