Sabrina (1995)

The Worst Film Ever

Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

As Good As It Gets

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

If you haven't seen the 1954 movie, this is a remake of, here's the basic story: There are two brothers in the wealthy Larrabee family, one of whom is a playboy and the other of whom is a workaholic businessman. The chauffeur's daughter, Sabrina, goes to Paris to learn a trade and comes back looking much more elegant. The playboy is engaged to a woman from a wealthy family, which is supposed to strengthen the success of a business merger. When Sabrina comes back from Paris, the playboy sets his desire on her, and so the businessman brother intervenes so the merger will not be ruined. Eventually the businessman's heart softens and he stops being selfishly manipulative, and his own change causes the playboy to rise to the occasion and make things right. It's all done with great flair and humor.Harrison Ford is spectacular and comes across as a paradox of gruffness and sensitivity, still maintaining his sex-appeal. Ford plays a seemingly callous businessman who as the story develops, grows more and more endearing. Together with Julia Ormond who plays her role elegantly and sweetly, they bring an element of classic romance to this beautifully directed modern-day fairytale. The chemistry between Harrison Ford and Julia Ormond is fantastic, you can feel it coming through the screen. This was actually an excellent adaption of Sabrina. This adaption did not in anyway attempt to replace the "original" movie but presented the material from a fresh and new vantage of the story. These qualities are sadly very rare in today's films! Overall rating: 8 out of 10.

Sabrina (1995): Dir: Sydney Pollack / Cast: Julia Ormond, Harrison Ford, Greg Kinnear, Lauren Holly, Angie Dickinson: Satisfying yet inferior remake to Billy Wilder's 1954 romantic hit. Julia Ormond stars as Sabrina, perched in a tree to fancy the sight of an engaged man. When she returns from a trip she is transformed into a beautiful woman and catches his attention but he is married to the daughter of an investor whom older brother Linus wishes not to lose. He spirits her away to keep his younger brother from infidelity but finds himself falling for her. Still a lovely story with conviction yet it feels like a remake. Directed by Sidney Pollack who previously made Absence of Malice and Tootsie. Ormond accepts the brave task of filling the role previously mastered by Audrey Hepburn and she pulls through, and Harrison Ford is taking a shot at romantic comedies, on break from his usual action persona. He is a reasonable suggestion for someone to fill shoes once wore by Humphrey Bogart. Greg Kinnear plays his brother with the same glee possessed by William Holden in the original. Lauren Holly plays his wife but after her success with Dumb and Dumber she is unfortunately mere cardboard here. Angie Dickinson is also underused here after her previous success. This is not as good as the original but it is a well crafted and worthy romantic charm. Score: 7 ½ / 10

The underlying message of this movie is the message of this movie is the European culture compared to the American culture. It is shown that the American lifestyle has a lack of balance between work and life. Americans are workaholics. Which can affect the well-being of a person. But ultimately will bring us all to the "American Dream". In the movie there is a huge contrast between Linus, the one who is obsessed with work and making more money to the point where work is all he thinks about, and David, who lives his life to get the girls and try out everything never working to pay for it in the first place. Sabrina fell in love with David and his lifestyle, she wanted the popularity and fashion, until she went to Paris and realized the importance of balance between work and play. She tells her father that her favorite thing about him is that he became a chauffeur just so he could have time to read his books. That is something that the American society doesn't understand, it's always work more hours to make more money so you are secure. American's look to the future instead of living in the now, but if you are always looking to the future and not enjoying the now then the future will stay in the future. Europeans work just as hard as anybody, the difference that they have is that they know when to stop working and have fun. Also, the Europeans will do something that they enjoy rather than having a job that they dislike to have security for the future. Sabrina tells Linus that in Europe it's all about pleasure, they work as hard, they just know when to quit and enjoy themselves. This is brings joy to the people of Europe, why people love to visit and never want to leave. Health is very affected by the amount time and energy is put into work. American's long work hours has a huge impact on a person's health. What will give when long hours at work are being added? The more a person tries to work more hours the less sleep, exercise, relaxation, nutrition, and outside social time they will get. People don't think of the consequence if they work through their lunch break, or stay at the office late to finish a project early. Not only is having the separate time away from work good for your physical health and can prevent illness, it is good for your mental, emotional, social, and spiritual health. All fun and no work is hard on a person, it can result in depression and a rut. People will tend to keep themselves in the rut to get to their goal. People are disillusioned when they think that money can bring them happiness. Driving an expensive car, living in an enormous house, and having unlimited material objects are only good for temporary delight. Most people who are blessed with wealth are only blessed for a limited time. Eventually, the money fades. When this happens, they do not know how to handle this seemingly irreplaceable loss. By revolving their lives around making, spending, and/or saving money, they are disheartened without it. The youth of America are taught that success comes from finding a high paying job and wearing uncomfortable, expensive clothing. Young adults are pressured to finish high school and attend a good college to earn a degree. Finding a "respectable" job, rather than working in a field of interest and enjoyment is considered success in today's world. The working world would be dominated by truly happy people if everyone would do work that they love instead of wasting energy for money and riches. Sabrina repeats the notion that working constantly is too much and playing is never going to be enough. In Europe, they understand balance between working and relaxing for their own personal enjoyment. They understand that life is meant to lived right now not in the future.

1995 saw the release of a great American romantic comedy in Hollywood tradition, "The American president", but it's Pollack's "Sabrina" that deserves the title because it's based on the 1954' classic, directed by Billy Wilder and starring Audrey Hepburn, William Holden and Humphrey Bogart. Yet, there's more in "Sabrina" than a simple remake.There is a natural reflex from every movie buff, which is to prefer any "original" film to its remake. It often has to do with the classic status reached by the first movie, inevitably dismissing any attempt to remake it. But at the risk of sounding like another heretic, I thought Sydney Pollack's remake, if not better, is a solid match to the original acting-wise and more than anything, storytelling-wise.I insist on the storytelling department because it contradicts the idea of the original's greatness relying on its monumental cast, incomparable to the Sidney Pollack, Harrison Ford, Greg Kinnear and Julia Osmond's quartet. Yet "Sabrina" approaches the two myths of Cinderella and the Ugly Duckling and ask for us to root for Sabrina, a woman who never attracted men, yet ended up being in the middle of a business scheme, until winning the heart of a businessman. No matter how fairytale, the material is, its convincingness is not to be taken for granted, and no matter how great are the actors, their transformation, their chemistry is still something that depend on the storytelling, more than the acting.And it's extraordinary how Pollack not only remains faithful to the fairytale aspect of the story and to the sensitivities of the 90's in the same time, starting with the heroine herself. Sabrina is supposed to be the Ugly Duckling, she's the chauffeur's daughter who spent most of her time in David's shadow, before finding herself during her trip in Paris. The problem with Audrey Hepburn is that she was incapable of being unattractive no matter how hard she, or the make-up and costume design, tried. Julia Osmond, on the other hand, being that unknown brunette with the same sweet charm as Juliette Binoche, with small glasses and long hair, is convincing as the not-too attractive girl on the surface.And the new script doesn't insult our intelligence by labeling her as a 'dog', she's just a shy, insecure person who had to discover her inner attractiveness before ever trying to seducing. And the Paris' transformation give much more depth and consistence to her evolution, when she comes back, we know Sabrina hasn't turned into a glamorous woman but as a confident one. Paris' effect is really palpable and makes it strangely believable that David wouldn't recognize Sabrina. I'm not saying that these details hurt the original film, but Pollack, probably moved by a humble desire to pay tribute to the 'untouchable' classic, compensated the modest cast through a particular attention to human details, that inevitably highlighted the original's flaws.And the real masterstroke comes with the casting of Harrison Ford as Linus. Ford exudes the perfect mix of seriousness and vulnerability. He easily passes as a grown-up man who spent so much behind the office that someone had to show him the preciousness of life, and how it can't afford to be wasted. And all through his interactions with Sabrina, we keep on wondering if he's aware that he's falling in love, and if it's reciprocal. Both Linus and Sabrina are part of a hypocrisy that betray an endearing defenselessness, and makes them two persons ironically fitting one another. And while Pollack could have kept the movie's track and bring David to make the deal possible, he also develops his seemingly one-dimensional personality.I liked Holden in "Sabrina", and his chemistry with Hepburn was so sincere it really veiled any hint of sentiment toward the elderly Bogart. But Holden's shining moment when he accepts to marry his fiancée almost felt like a deus-ex-machina. How could David finally give Sabrina up so eagerly? Well, Pollack gave me satisfying answers by making David grow up in maturity, by taken into consideration that his character's arc had to be closed by the fact that for the first time, he'll allow his brother to live his life. And strangely, the romantic comedy, also turns into a subtle and positive satire about family relationships in business, allowing Nancy Marchand to shine as the authoritarian, yet compassionate mother.What I admire most in the remake is Pollack's attachment to make the story more believable and endearing by today's standards, he knows he won't reach the same legendary status as the original, but he knows that this very status asks for believability. His characters are extremely well-developed, he gives a spectacular supporting cast to his movies, and the whole film is such a delight to watch, that nothing could have ruined it. The ending was the only hit-or-miss, and while I thought the hug between Hepburn and Bogart was awkward, just a kiss in Paris wouldn't have been enough to ruin the whole efforts.But I wasn't surprised, that Linus would apologize to Sabrina, considering the scene where he broke her heart, a scene whose emotionality clearly surpasses the original. I loved that he asked for her help, because he needed her, and in return open her heart on how much she needs him. That's what I call, a beautiful romance, comedic or not, it was the perfect conclusion for a movie that had so much to prove to be respected, and that even managed to be superior to the original film, and it's one of the rare instances where I'm not hesitant to give it a higher rating.It doesn't diminish the classic status of Billy Wilder's "Sabrina", Julia Osmond is not Audrey Hepburn, and Harrison Ford isn't Bogart, but like I said for the previous film, good ingredient don't necessarily make a good meal, what matters is how the director makes his interactions believable and emotionally appealing. And Pollack brilliantly succeeds in both exercises.