Date: Fri 29-Mar-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Illustration: C

Location: A-10

Quick Words:

Now-Playing-Sabrina-Ormond

Full Text:

(rev "Sabrina" for Now Playing, 3/29/96)

Now Playing: `Sabrina' An Old-Fashioned Romance

By Trey Paul Alexander III

America is no longer in love with the romance film. We don't hate the genre,

for it will always be a trusty entertainment option for special dates, but

judging from recent moviegoing habits, those mushy love stories don't rope `em

in like they used to.

Among the top twenty films of last year are only two romances, While You Were

Sleeping and Pocahontas (and I'm being generous by including the latter, whose

main audience was kids who couldn't care less if John Smith smooched with

Pocahontas). Although love stories are far from a dying breed - hence the

relative triumphs of The American President , The Bridges of Madison County ,

A Walk in the Clouds and Up Close and Personal , to name a few - it's fair to

say we haven't seen many runaway hits since Pretty Woman and Sleepless in

Seattle .

Opening March 29 at Edmond Town Hall theatre is Sabrina , another one of last

year's moderate successes that should have lasted longer in theatres and

enjoyed more prosperity than it did. A remake of a 1954 romantic comedy

directed by Billy Wilder ( Some Like It Hot , Double Indemnity and Sunset

Boulevard are just a few of the unforgettable, classic movies on his

Oscar-winning resume) and starring legendary screen giants Humphrey Bogart,

Audrey Hepburn and William Holden, Sabrina tells of the shy daughter (Julia

Ormond) of the chauffeur to the rich and famous Larrabee clan. She watches in

awe over all the glamorous parties hosted by this corporate family, and dreams

of one day joining the throng, particularly the company of David Larrabee

(Greg Kinnear), the dapper, younger brother to the more industrious,

career-oriented Linus (Harrison Ford).

Sabrina caught some flak from critics who felt this go-round lacked a 90s

flavor and failed to update the film for today's audiences. On the contrary,

Sabrina is refreshingly old-fashioned in its belief that less profanity and

explicitness is more appealing. Sabrina pines desperately for the dreamy

David, but never does the word S-E-X come into mention. And unlike most movies

these days, in which the romantic payoff is a gratuitous sex scene in which we

get to see how much the stars have been working out, Sabrina relies upon the

charisma of its attractive leads to carry the film.

In order that the fresh-faced Ormond and big screen rookie Kinnear don't have

to sustain the picture and battle the ghosts of Hepburn and Holden all by

their lonesome, Ford supplies his veteran confidence to the film, lending it

the presence it needs. His elite prowess in action films is unquestionable,

but his versatility is underrated, particularly in comedic roles (remember his

effective turn in Working Girl ?). Here, he is wonderfully curmudgeonly as the

business-minded Linus, who has little time for matters other than the

advancement of the family enterprise, which becomes threatened when David

finally notices, and becomes spellbound, by Sabrina.

With Ford ensconced as the film's marquee name, Ormond and Kinnear are allowed

to glide into their roles without an inordinate heap of pressure. Their

performances are all the better for it. Ormond is more innately effervescent

and beguiling here than she was suggested to be in Legends of the Fall as the

object of several brothers' desire. Kinnear is daffy and dashing, and although

David is the typical playboy with an inability to commit, he injects sympathy

into the role and keeps the character from reverting into a caricaturish

buffoon.

Sabrina is rated PG for mild profanity. If you are looking for a pleasant

evening at the movies, complete with glitzy Hollywood stars in all their charm

but without the whiz-bang gymnastics and pyrotechnics of most studio flicks,

then this is your film.