They don't make 'em like they used to. In fact, it seems no matter how they try, they just can't make 'em like they used to.
Sydney Pollack's remake of the 1954 romantic - comedy "Sabrina" from Billy Wilder is as flat as a tack in this 90's setting. Absolutely nothing works for Pollack or new screenwriters Barbara Benedek and David Rayfiel. This sort of film just does not suit the style that so complimented the likes of "While You Were Sleeping" and "Sleepless in Seattle". There are so many things wrong with this pic I could go on forever about what has no effect.
Harrison Ford is no Bogart. Though I consider him to be a fine actor, "Sabrina" is proof he is not a romantic lead. Ford is unable to make any impact as hard-nosed business man Linus Larrabee, and everything he tries fails, including all his comic moments and any intimate scenes with Julia Ormond, who, by the way, is no Audrey Hepburn. Miss Ormond is no more "Sabrina" than Danny De Vito is "Conan". She cannot even begin to do anything with this character, if only because hers, and every other character are all so out of place in the nineties. In fact this is one of the biggest mistakes that Benedek and Rayfiel have made in setting this definitive 50's romance in the modern era. Big miscalculation. That is what the whole show turns out to be.
Ford and Ormond create zero chemistry, and he looks old enough to be her aging father (at least 30 years older). You just can't believe him, feel sorry for her or buy into any aspect of their relationship. Flick struggles to be funny throughout, and none of the cast is able to rescue, resurrect or otherwise resuscitate this floundering, very lost film. What did Pollack think he was doing? Surely he of all people should have known to leave this doomed remake well alone.
Entire cast struggle to communicate character motivation, and little else, including Paris scenery, can help this misplaced, poorly judged dead weight. One of the most disappointing remakes I have ever seen.
Saturday, February 17, 1996 - Greater Union Melbourne
Sydney Pollack's remake of the 1954 romantic - comedy "Sabrina" from Billy Wilder is as flat as a tack in this 90's setting. Absolutely nothing works for Pollack or new screenwriters Barbara Benedek and David Rayfiel. This sort of film just does not suit the style that so complimented the likes of "While You Were Sleeping" and "Sleepless in Seattle". There are so many things wrong with this pic I could go on forever about what has no effect.
Harrison Ford is no Bogart. Though I consider him to be a fine actor, "Sabrina" is proof he is not a romantic lead. Ford is unable to make any impact as hard-nosed business man Linus Larrabee, and everything he tries fails, including all his comic moments and any intimate scenes with Julia Ormond, who, by the way, is no Audrey Hepburn. Miss Ormond is no more "Sabrina" than Danny De Vito is "Conan". She cannot even begin to do anything with this character, if only because hers, and every other character are all so out of place in the nineties. In fact this is one of the biggest mistakes that Benedek and Rayfiel have made in setting this definitive 50's romance in the modern era. Big miscalculation. That is what the whole show turns out to be.
Ford and Ormond create zero chemistry, and he looks old enough to be her aging father (at least 30 years older). You just can't believe him, feel sorry for her or buy into any aspect of their relationship. Flick struggles to be funny throughout, and none of the cast is able to rescue, resurrect or otherwise resuscitate this floundering, very lost film. What did Pollack think he was doing? Surely he of all people should have known to leave this doomed remake well alone.
Entire cast struggle to communicate character motivation, and little else, including Paris scenery, can help this misplaced, poorly judged dead weight. One of the most disappointing remakes I have ever seen.
Saturday, February 17, 1996 - Greater Union Melbourne