By Diana Lee LaBrecque

Everyone occasionally pauses during their lusting for love, socially stressed out, academia driven lives, and stops to ponder what it is we are all doing here. We wonder how our lives are affecting others, and if there is a point to going about our “to do list”-filled days. We all ask our questions and rarely get answers. Well-what’s it all about? In Jude Law’s case, it’s about portraying the libido driven, social swinger, wandering worker named Alfie Elkins.

Alfie is a British bachelor scooting around the city of New York as a limousine driver, with no sense of responsibility or morality. He holds his world of lovely ladies and carefree cash on a string. Alfie doesn’t bother to blink until the pending idea of penile disease and unexpected young blood ties obligate him to reconsider his ways of life.

If this character doesn’t seem a tad bit familiar then check back to a local mid-1960s film archive and look under “A.” The original scandalous Alfie came out in 1966 and starred an inexperienced, unknown Michael Caine. The film jump-started Caine’s career and he hasn’t stopped making movies since, even at age 71. The original writer of the film, Bill Naughton, adapted his original screenplay for the remake. In the sixties, the film shocked audiences with its upfront discussion of abortion and child neglect. In the remake, the film is more focused on a man figuring out that there is more to life than wine and women. The famous score “What’s it All About, Alfie?” written by Burt Bacharach has been performed by artists such as Cher and Barbra Streisand. It has now been rerecorded by up and coming pop singer Joss Stone and stands out on the soundtrack as being one of the only songs not written and sung by Mick Jagger. Each track by Jagger is meant to parallel with the deeper questions the film asks and the growth of the character Alfie.

Law seems to be popping up everywhere these days from hosting “Saturday Night Live” to releasing a new flick every other week. Alfie is his first lead role where he can totally immerse himself in the emotional growth and development of a character.

Throughout the film the ultimate Manhattan bachelor slowly realizes his actions and words affect others. Law’s character questions the deeper meaning of existence as well as the purpose of commitment and even though he chain smokes and drinks like a sailor, he looks pretty damn good philosophizing in Armani. Behind his sinful smile, Law took on the character of Alfie in a serious, challenging manner. He had many obstacles he had never faced before: to create a relationship with the camera as he talked to the audience as if they were another character. Law is in every scene of the film and often turns to the camera to discuss what is going on in his thought process during his road to true-heartiness. This technique was used in the original and allowed the audience to see the dramatic change in Alfie’s personality from being a dark, disconnected, selfish freelancer to a more innocent, clueless guy who is slowly realizing that while unintentionally hurting others, he is also hurting himself.

Though Alfie never directly answers “What’s it all about,” the audience knows that after having a love/hate relationship with Jude Law lasting two hours and costing ten bucks-and that after his British bum strolls past a New York skyline right before the first rolling credit appears-the infamous “it” is about way more than a little hokey-pokey.

Final Grade: A

In the remake of 1966´s Alfie, Jude Law plays the ice. (Image courtesy movies.yahoo.com)