Product Description

Remake of the 1954 film about a modern-day Cinderella who is the daughter of a wealthy family's chauffeur. When she is transformed into a graceful woman, she captures the attention of the sons of the family.
Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: PG
Release Date: 29-DEC-2004
Media Type: DVD

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1429 in DVD
• Brand: FORD,HARRISON
• Released on: 2002-01-15
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 127 minutes

Amazon.com
Julia Ormond faced one of the great challenges of her career when she tried to re-create Audrey Hepburn's title role in the 1995 remake of 1954's Sabrina. Happily, Ormond performed admirably, and while she may not have the same gamine charm of Hepburn, she makes the role her own. In fact, her transformation from mousy girl to sophisticated young woman is actually more dramatic in this updated version. The basic plot is the same--chauffeur's daughter falls in love with the son of the rich household, only to be wooed away by the older brother for business purposes--but it has been entertainingly modernized: The head of the Larrabee household is the strong matriarch (Nancy Marchand); Sabrina goes to Paris to work with a photographer instead of going to cooking school (although that means the wonderful "new egg" scene of the original had to be ditched); David's (Greg Kinnear) character has been toned down and made more sympathetic; and Humphrey Bogart's revolutionary plastic has become the flattest TV screen ever made. Lauren Holly does a fine job playing Elizabeth Tyson, David's fiancée. If you watch this for its own worth--instead of comparing it to the original--this will prove to be a terrific lighthearted romantic comedy. --Jenny Brown

From The New Yorker
Sydney Pollack's rehash of the Billy Wilder comedy, scripted this time by Barbara Benedek and David Rayfiel, both updates and downgrades the original, running dangerously low on style and completely short of fun. The role that Audrey Hepburn made famous goes to Julia Ormond, who looks fabulous enough but doesn't strike sparks off anyone; the two Larrabee brothers, who vie alternately for Sabrina's affection, are played by Harrison Ford (as Linus the lump) and Greg Kinnear (as David the swell). What laughs there are blow in from the supporting roles: Sabrina's father (John Wood), the elder Mrs. Larrabee (Nancy Marchand), and Linus's secretary (Dana Ivey). If you arrive half an hour late, you'll manage to miss the early Parisian scenes, which are unspeakable. The Sydney Pollack who made "Tootsie" is strangely absent from this picture; the Sydney Pollack who ground us down with "The Firm" is much in evidence. -Anthony Lane
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Sabrina
I had this video years ago but either loaned it out or misplaced it.
This was a replacement.

Well done remake of a classic Cinderella story
Sabrina (Julia Ormond) has lived her life above the wealthy Larrabee garage all her life, watching the fabulous parties, dreaming of the youngest son, David (Greg Kinnear). When the poor chauffeur's daughter gets a chance to go away to Paris to work on "Vogue" magazine, she comes back transformed.

Meanwhile, David's engaged now to a young doctor, Elizabeth Tyson (Lauren Holly) whose family is also an excellent match for the Larrabees. The Tyson family owns a patent that eldest son Linus (Harrison Ford) needs for his multi-billion dollar business. He's working to merge their two companies together.

When David sees Sabrina, his typical short attention span kicks in, which wreaks havoc with the Tysons. Linus steps in to divert David. When he tries to romance Sabrina to get her away from David, Linus realizes the chauffeur's daughter could be the girl for him.

Probably only Sydney Pollack could direct a film that would come close to the original, which starred Humphrey Bogart as Linus and Audrey Hepburn as Sabrina. The modernization of the story is fascinating. Harrison Ford makes as good a Linus as Bogart. Ormond is exquisite, but she doesn't quite live up to the luminous quality of Audrey Hepburn. Nancy Marchand is the one actor who I think is better than the original Nella Walker.

It's worth seeing both stories just as an interest to see how the story has morphed from one generation to about the third. You may want both if you love Cinderella stories.

Rebecca Kyle, May 2008

A good remake
Other than the fact that it seemed like Linus and Sabrina fell in love quickly (two-three days?) I found this to be a charming remaking. The first act seemed or felt rather long-watching her in Paris while she slowly tried to forget about David. I did wonder whatever happened to her photographer boyfriend-but I guess he was just meant to be a fling. Plus, I would have liked this modernized version to give her father more of a backbone other than just letting whatever happen-happen. Plus, Sabrina was supposed to be like this innocent breath of fresh air-chick who was steadily pursuing an engaged man. I questioned her intelligence to willing line up to be one of those love him and dump chicks David ran through. If she knew him as well as she said she did, why follow his blueprint to a broken heart? Still it's a charming film-a good remake-not great-but good.