Is any man an Alfie? Ask any girl!
A young man leads a promiscuous lifestyle until several life reversals make him rethink his purposes and goals in life.
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Character
Character-led, spare, intimate and meticulous.
- character-ledplot-driven
- sparerichly built
- intimateepic
- rawmeticulous
- effortlessdemanding
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“Is this Lewis Gilbert's best work?”
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“Is it funnier than it is smart?”
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“Would Alfie hit harder if it came out today rather than in 1966?”
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Reviews on TMDB
Written by TMDB members; each links to the original. Not part of Tastebuds's numbers.
- CinemaSerfon TMDB · Sep 20247/10
Michael Caine is a bit too convincing as the sleazy, London man-about-town who only cares about having a beautiful girl on his arm (and in his bed). It isn't so much that he's a misogynist, more that sees women in only one linear fashion and as he has no use for them - or anyone else, for that matter, unless it is for his own immediate gratification. The narrative of the film takes us on his slow journey of self-realisation; he starts to comprehend the shallowness of his existence and embarks on his own yellow brick road to maturity. There are some great supporting contributions from Shelley Winters and Denholm Elliott and a cast of glamorous 1960s British models to lend credence to his hedonistic lifestyle. It is hard to watch 50-odd years later; the character is so odious - but that is testament to good acting and a novel - intimate - creative style of directing from Lewis Gilbert. Sonny Rollins turns out a great score too.
Read the whole review on TMDB - wizzardsson TMDB · Feb 20218/10
In his younger years it would be fair to say that Michael Caine was typecast as a rough-and-ready Cockney. Whether that was agent Harry Palmer in _The Ipcress File_ or the efficacious Charlie Croker in _The Italian Job_, Caine became Britain's greatest self parody of a bygone era. In _Alfie_, Caine plays the eponymous character, a womanising lad-about-town who cares more about with who he'll be sleeping with than where he'll be sleeping that evening. The ladies - and there are more than a few - are often discarded as, literal, objects of desire, but as Alfie comes to learn, actions will eventually have consequences. When watched through a contemporary lens, there is something both creepy and despicable about Alfie - if any modern man behaved the way that Alfie does, he would rightly be lambasted by the #MeToo movement. But then, this is both the sexually liberating 1960's and Alfie never claims to want to be admired or looked up to. It would be easy to say that he treats all the women badly, but there is an argument that it is the men who usually come off worse, whether he is charming another man's wife into bed, or demanding so much attention that a perfectly respectable man is ba
Read the whole review on TMDB
Cast
- Michael CaineAlfie Elkins
- Shelley WintersRuby
- Millicent MartinSiddie
- Julia FosterGilda
- Jane AsherAnnie
- Shirley Anne FieldCarla
- Vivien MerchantLily Clamacraft
- Eleanor BronThe Doctor
- Denholm ElliottThe Abortionist
- Alfie BassHarry Clamacraft
Crew
- Lewis GilbertDirector
- Bill NaughtonScreenplay
- Otto HellerDirector of Photography
- Sonny RollinsOriginal Music Composer
- Thelma ConnellEditor
- Lewis GilbertProducer
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Pairings
Companions we picked from the closest works, and how to take them.
Similar in taste
Closest on the same fourteen dimensions, from everything scored on Tastebuds Other media included when they land close.
The Graduate 196786% alikeClose across the board.
Breakfast on Pluto 200581% alikeClose across the board.
Man on the Moon 199980% alikeClose across the board.
High Fidelity 200080% alikeBoth character-led.
Dinner at Eight 193380% alikeClose across the board.
Carnal Knowledge 197180% alikeBoth character-led.
Edward Scissorhands 199079% alikeClose across the board.
Manhattan 197978% alikeBoth character-led.
F is for Family 201575% alikeTelevision · Close across the board.
Freaks and Geeks 199973% alikeTelevision · Both character-led.
Often watched with
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