Sabrina (1995)

I was a bit surprised looking at Sabrina's user ratings. I thought it would be around 7, but it wasn't. My vote for this movie was a perfect 10, simply because I can't find any flaws from this movie. Sabrina is definitely my all-time favorite!

Well, I know this genre is not for everybody's taste, but this movie is very easy on the eyes, very light, entertaining, funny and most of all: magical. Here's what I love about the movie: 1. The story itself the usual 'ugly duckling' story and it's also a remake, but in this movie they turned that average story into a very lovely one. 2. The casting of everybody in this movie: Harrison Ford, Julia Ormond, Greg Kinnear, Nancy Marchand, John Wood, and other actors are done very well. The chemistry between Harrison Ford and Julia Ormond is just wonderful.

3. Their acting is also very good, especially Dana Ivey as Mack, Linus' secretary. Her laugh was a hilarious one :) 4. The music? It compliments the movie. The movie would not be as magical if it wasn't for John Williams' score. His scores are just superb. I can't praise enough about it. If you don't believe me, just hear the soundtrack.

5. And last but not least, I just love how Sydney Pollack create those extremely beautiful shots. My favorites are the Paris and Nantucket scenes. They're very very very lovely.

Overall, this is a movie that can put you in a very good mood..

Fmovies: Sabrina - the Harrison Ford version. I'd never given this flick a chance until recently, because of the Bogart/Audrey Hepburn version. The story line is adjusted from 1954 to 1995, but with little respect for the earlier Taylor/Wilder script. Maybe it's a dumbing-down thing. In '54, the characters really didn't understand what was happening to and around them. That's half the fun of the script - figuring these people out, and then wondering when they'll get it themselves. No such thought-provocation in '95. Everyone knows just what they're thinking and doing and saying, and they play it out with the all subtlety of a Louisville Slugger. Nothing to figure out here. Apparently director Sydney Pollack can't trust his audience with that.

Still, there are a few laughs. It's not a waste of time unless you've got something better to do.

I really liked this film. The acting, the music, the dialogue, the gorgeous scenes of Paris and New England, and the glamourous parties. Julia Ormond is no Audrey Hepburn, but who is? I think she hit all the right notes as the shy, clumsy girl who goes away, blossoms, and comes home confident and glamourous. Ormond's Sabrina never loses her innocence or her good heart. Greg Kinnear was hilarious as the lovable ladies' man (and looks a lot like William Holden in the original). Nancy Marchand was hysterically funny as the crabby Mrs. Larabee, and John Wood turned in a good performance as Sabrina's father.

But I did have a harder time with Harrison Ford's Linus. He seemed too dark and too greedy to buy as loving Sabrina, even when he called off the merger. It always seemed to ring false in a way. He seemed a lot like the character of Richard in "Caroline in the City".

But I regress. This is a very good movie!

Sabrina fmovies. Sabrina contains about every cliché you could possibly imagine: an apparently dowdy young woman undergoing a makeover whilst abroad and returning home looking stunning; a young playboy who the girl has always loved initially failing to recognise her with her new look then pursuing her romantically; the overly-serious older brother using the girl in a plan to achieve his business ends then realising that he really does love her; the younger brother proving at the end that he's not so dumb after all - the list of stereotypes could go on and on. However having said all that, when such a seemingly familiar film is as well made and as beautifully scripted and acted as Sabrina, it's hard not to be swept along with it and to enjoy every minute. I loved the performances here, particularly from Harrison Ford and Julia Ormond. I've never seen Ford play such a staid, uncharismatic character as Linus before but I get the impression from watching the film that he enjoyed the opportunity to take on this kind of part. Ormond makes an extremely engaging leading lady, perfect for the role of Sabrina. I particularly enjoyed Sabrina's mirthful reaction to seeing Linus put on the baseball cap while he's trying to win her affection. Also very funny was Linus' effortless recognition of the new-look Sabrina thus revealing her identity to a confused David. John Willliams also contributes a nice score. This is a classy romantic comedy, well worth watching.

Many won't agree, and the critics may have panned it, but I feel this fantastic , feel-good movie exemplifies what all great movies should be: entertaining , intelligent, thoughtful, with touches of comedy, pathos, and respect for the human condition.. I find myself watching this magnificent work over and over and over, and never tiring of it. I feel Harrison Ford delivers his best performance, bar none, and really shows that he is one our best actors. Julia Ormond: well, what can I say. Just absolutely the most beautiful, sexy, wonderful actress living today... I fall in love with her all over again each time I watch the movie. Greg Kinnear is a very believable co-star and funny, funny... the players are selected very well , each contributing mightily to the final effect! The director really knew what he was doing and keeps the movie going strong.. congratulations to all. I wish there were more works like this, and would really like to see another done with Harrison Ford and Julia Ormond in the title roles, oncemore!. Bravo! Bravo!

I was surprised at how good this movie is. A remake of a movie starring Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart and William Holden, directed by one of the greats of American cinema, Billy Wilder, is not exactly the kind of task for the faint of heart. The fact that Sydney Pollack (They Shoot Horses Don't They? (1969), Tootsie (1982), Out of Africa (1985), etc.) decided to do it must have raised a few eyebrows in Hollywood land.

And let's just say I had preconceptions as I sat down to watch this. No way could this be anything near as good as the original. And for the first twenty minutes or so I was not dissuaded. Julia Ormond, who was given Miss Hepburn's title role, seemed nothing far removed from ordinary; and Greg Kinnear, who played the playboy David Larrabee, seemed a poor imitation of William Holden. Of course Harrison Ford, I told myself, is another story, since he is the embodiment of the fulfillment of the desire of many woman, and a fine, accomplished leading man. He would be, I suspected, the lone bright spot. In the original, Humphrey Bogart, a little past his prime, and in not exactly the best of moods, and not entirely pleased with the relatively inexperienced Audrey Hepburn, played the cool tycoon Linus Larrabee with some distracted forbearance in what many consider one of his lesser performances. Surely Harrison Ford could improve on that.

He did, but what really surprised me was just how diabolically clever the oh, so romantic script by Barbara Benedek and David Rayfiel turned out to be. I mean, Cinderella move over. Sabrina could not have achieved a more glorious existence had she died and gone to heaven. It is hard to imagine a more fulfilling fantasy for a chauffeur's daughter than what transpires here.

Quickly here's the premise of this celluloid fairy tale/romance: Pretty but ordinary Sabrina, born of working class parents, her father the chauffeur of the ultra rich Larrabees, grows up living above the garage in the palatial Larrabee estate. She watches the lavish parties thrown by the Larrabees from a spot in a tree and falls madly in the kind of puppy love that never goes away with the younger of the Larrabee brothers, David, who is the kind of guy who gives playboys a bad name. When she comes of age, she goes away to Paris (apparently to work for a fashion magazine: in the original Sabrina, she goes to a cooking school in Paris), picks up confidence and a new kind of eye-popping sophistication, comes back and...well, gets noticed.

The basic skeleton of this, the story from the first Sabrina (1954), which is dreamily romantic enough and then some, is greatly augmented here with some very fine psychological touches including developing Sabrina's character beyond the pretty and stylish to something bordering on the wise and heroic. Suffice it to say that we come away feeling she deserves every rainbow's end she gets. I can see Benedek and Rayfiel exclaiming with riotous joy as they are writing the script (trading e-mails perhaps): "They want romance, they want woman's fantasy? They want Sabrina to have a pot of gold and true love everlasting? How about riches beyond counting and the doting attention of the two handsome, very rich brothers? She can take her pick. We've give 'em romance, we'll give 'em dreams come true!" And they do. Not only that, but they keep us guessing about who gets the girl until the last possible moment, and they do that very cleverly.

Of course it helps to have professional direction by Sydney Po