Plot
Sabrina Fairchild (Julia Ormond) is the ugly duckling daughter of the Larrabee family chauffeur (John Wood). She has been in love with the young Larrabee brother – David (Greg Kinnear) all her life. Unfortunately, David is the ultimate player, going from one pretty girl to the next.
She gets her opportunity to change when she moves to Paris and works as a photographer. Upon her return, David is shocked that she has turned into a beautiful young woman and he’s dying to flirt with her.
The older Larrabee brother Linus (Harrison Ford) is the ultimate workaholic, successfully running the family business. He isn’t content with David’s fascination with Sabrina as David is about to marry Elizabeth Tyson (Lauren Holly), with whose family Linus is about to close a profitable merger deal. Knowing that Sabrina still wants David, Linus makes a plan with his mother (Nancy Marchand). He will seduce Sabrina and make her give up on David.
Of course Linus has forgotten about one thing: Sabrina is enchanting and while she is falling for him, he is also falling for her…Will this plan end up well for anyone?
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Movie Trivia
Sabrina is the 1995 remake of the 1954 American classic of the same name. 1954’S Sabrina stars Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn and William Holden. Original Sabrina – directed by Billy Wilder- is rated 7.8 on IMDB while Sydney Pollack’s version is rated at 6.0
A couple of years ago, the movie was adapted to a popular TV series in Turkey and the English translation of the show reads “An Istanbul Fairy Tale”.
Verdict
Sabrina is a sweet, charming movie. Yes, once again I committed the sin of not having seen the original. I am positively biased towards the newer one, since I am a spoiled movie fan that prefers the 90s camera work and technology over the 50s.
It is by no means a perfect movie. While I think Julia Ormond makes a lovely Sabrina, a more good-looking actor could have played David. I love Greg Kinnear to bits, but he just isn’t hot enough for the part of David, though he does seem to make a good replacement for William Holden.
I think Harrison Ford is a perfect Linus, and I’ll go as far to say I prefer him over Bogart. As charismatic as Bogart is, Ford is much more likeable. And the movie does unfortunately becomes a victim to its wardrobe. It might be in character but seriously, didn’t businessmen wear ties in the 90s? What’s with Linus’ fascination with the bowties? Who wore bow ties to a corporation in the 90s? And well, he could have picked a little more flattering glasses. Let me put it this way- Harrison looks as old as he looks now in the film. Which is weird, given that the movie was shot so many years ago.
But apart from my objections to the wardrobe and Greg Kinnear, I liked watching Sabrina. It might be a poor girl falls for the older rich guy storyline, but it comes with Ford and Ormond.
6.5/10 from me. Recommended to every romantic.
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Other Posts on Harrison Ford Movies
Extraordinary Measures starring Harrison Ford, Brendan Fraser & Keri Russell
Firewall starring Harrison Ford, Paul Bettany & Virginia Madsen
Air Force One starring Harrison Ford, Glenn Close & Gary Oldman
Six Days Seven Nights starring Harrison Ford, Anne Heche & David Schwimmer
The Fugitive starring Harrison Ford & Tommy Lee Jones
Other Posts on Greg Kinnear
Ghost Town starring Ricky Gervais, Greg Kinnear & Téa Leoni
Someone Like You starring Ashley Judd, Hugh Jackman & Greg Kinnear