What's it all about? - it's about an hour and a half too long

I had great hopes for this remake because I really like Jude Law and I loved the original Alfie from years ago, starring Michael Caine. Unfortunately, this film has none of the breezy charm of the original - it's heavy-handed from the get-go, where Alfie wanders the streets of New York passing huge billboards reading tawdry things like PURSUE on them. The soundtrack (with songs from Mick Jagger and Dave Stewart) is heavy-handed as well, and as the film goes on (and on, and on) it becomes downright trite. Even some great shots of New York City at Christmas and a wonderful performance from Susan Sarandon (as a sort of female Alfie) can't redeem the contrived nature of the proceedings, and -=- POSSIBLE SPOILER -=- by the last scene, where Alfie delivers his final desperate speech directly to the audience, you are wishing for a billboard behind him that would read REFUND.