Critical response
Alfie received mixed reviews. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 48% based on 152 reviews, with an average rating of 5.5/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "This unnecessary remake wants Alfie to have his cake and eat it, too, but a lack of sexual fizz and a sour performance by Jude Law conspire to deliver audiences a romantic comedy that isn't romantic or funny." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 49 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.
Todd McCarthy from Variety describes the film as "a breezy, sexy romp with a conscience that reflects in obvious but interesting ways on societal changes over the intervening 38 years."
Roger Ebert enjoyed the film, praising Law's performance and saying that "on its own terms, it's funny at times and finally sad and sweet."
Entertainment Weekly gave the film a "B−", praising the actresses and Law, but also noting "Jude Law would appear to have all the attributes of a movie star: looks, humor, rogue charm. Yet there's one he could use more of — an anger that might ignite his smooth presence."
Manohla Dargis of The New York Times stated:
Unlike the 1966 British film on which it is based, with its abrasive star-making turn from Michael Caine, the new Alfie doesn't chase social significance – it just wants us to have a good time. The story's observations about male behavior aren't earth shattering...but what gives it its kick is how Alfie takes the film audience into his confidence. In both films, the character talks directly into the camera, a disarming strategy that brings us closer to this serial seducer than we might want. Playing narrator turns Alfie into a tour guide and something of his own defense attorney; it also means he has to enrapture the audience along with his conquests.
In 2024, Law expressed dissatisfaction with the film, "I was in a really strong position [at that time] because I'd just had another [Oscar] nomination on the back of Cold Mountain, and for Alfie to be the film I chose to do quite soon after that, I think was a bad move." Law also felt that the film "was made for too much money" and that he "was probably paid too much money, which I underestimated at the time."
