Remember when Jude Law was in a remake of Alfie and all it gave us culturally was a gif?
A remake of the 1966 Michael Caine film of the same title, NuAlfie came to the theaters at the height of Jude Law mania. Between 1999 and 2004, Jude Law was in no fewer than FIFTEEN movies and was a major role in the majority of them. We couldn’t get enough of that beautiful, frustrated man.
Plot-wise, it’s complete gossamer: a consummate playboy learns important lessons about love and sex and himself and so on and so on. Stripped of the social-economic trappings of 1960s England (Alfie still has to pay for an abortion, but doesn’t have to obtain one illegally, for one) the film lacks the poignancy and bite of the original. Alfie is just another hot guy with hot guy problems. Now to the gif.
It’s a perfect little encapsulation of early pre-life lessons Alfie. Law, a complete blonde dream in an undershirt, pretends to receive a shot through the heart by something the person in POV has said. He’s glowing and glorious, lit by dim bar lighting, laughing through a game of pool. If you saw that looking at you from down the table you would probably give in.
You’ve seen this gif. Everyone has seen this gif. Maybe you needed to appreciate something sweet a mutual said to you on Twitter. Maybe someone mentioned The Young Pope and you wanted to reply appropriately. Possibly you thought it was from Closer or The Holiday? Sans period markers you could almost believe it was from The Talented Mr. Ripley, another golden performance. But no, it’s from Alfie, the remake that time forgot.
Plot-wise, this scene is part of a larger montage detailing Alfie getting drunk and sleeping with his best friend’s extremely recent ex-girlfriend (Nia Long). This act will cost Alfie quite a bit and will be immediately regretted by Long, But at this moment, in this gif, the lights are low, Jude looks amazing, and all the choices make sense.
Even in 2004, we were just the slightest bit tired of world-weary playboys and Alfie came and went in theaters like a whisper. Now in 2020, the most we have left of Alfie (2004) is a reasonably good Mick Jagger song and a phenomenal gif. And that’s something even nonbelievers can believe in.
