SABRINA (1995)
A film review by Ben Hoffman
Copyright 1995 Ben Hoffman
Way back, in 1954, Billy Wilder directed the film of the same name. It starred William Holden as the man much-too-wealthy -for his-own-good and Audrey Hepburn as the daughter of Holden's chauffeur. In the cast, too, was Humphrey Bogart. The question in my mind is, if you have a great cast, turn out a very entertaining romantic comedy, why attempt to "improve" on the original? Are there no more writers left in the movie world? Are the producers afraid to take chances, preferring to go back some forty years to do a remake of a hit? Sometimes it seems that only the names have been changed ... to protect the innocent.
This time around we have equally fine actors. There's Harrison Ford (the billionaire ... in 1954 probably only a millionaire) and the lovely Julia Ormond as the chauffeur's daughter. Others starring in the cast include Nancy Marchand, Greg Kinnear and John Wood. Special mention should be made of Kinnear. Music by John Williams, a most busy man. Also in the cast are Angie Dickinson, and Richard Crenna.
The dialogue is witty and the film entertaining but there is too much of the feeling of "How many times have I seen a similar film before?" While it is not easy to sneeze at a billionaire's proposal, (and I do not for one moment believe that the chauffeur's daughter is that interested in the money,) nevertheless, it occurred to me that Ford is getting just a teeny bit mature to get the role of the guy who gets the girl. Julia Ormond acquits herself well as the young woman who eventually falls for Harrison. And did she not used to climb onto a tree limb and watch the fabulous parties the Harrison family was giving? Maybe it was money after all. Naaah.
Directed by Sydney Pollack
2 bytes
4 Bytes = Superb
3 Bytes = Too good to be missed.
2 Bytes = So so.
1 Byte = Save your money.
-- Ben Hoffman
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