Sophisticated comedy is a real rarity these days, so when one does come along, if it's any good at all, we should probably be grateful. Even if it's a remake of a movie that starred Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn and William Holden!
Such is the case with "Sabrina," based on Billy Wilder's 1954 romantic comedy, which is not among Wilder's acknowledged classics but is nonetheless a tough act to follow.
In the hands of director Sydney Pollack, however, whose remarkable body of work includes "Out of Africa," "Tootsie," "The Way We Were," "Jeremiah Johnson," "The Firm" and too many others to name, this update is quite enjoyable most of the way. And he has masterfully cast the trio of star roles with Harrison Ford, Julia Ormond and Greg Kinnear.
The story is a modern fairy tale about an "ugly duckling" named Sabrina (Ormond), who, after an opportunity to work for Vogue magazine in Paris for two years, returns as a gorgeous, sophisticated young woman.
Sabrina is the daughter of a chauffeur and has grown up on the lavish Larrabee estate, where she has had a lifelong crush on one of the Larrabee brothers, freewheeling, womanizing gadabout David (Kinnear). But she has virtually ignored the other brother, no-nonsense, all-business, workaholic Linus (Ford). (At one point Sabrina tells Linus he has been described as "the world's only living heart-donor.")
Naturally, both brothers have completely ignored her — and that's especially true of David, who is always on the lookout for a new conquest.
But when the new-and-improved Sabrina returns to the Larrabee estate, it's no surprise that David sees her as an object of pursuit. Unfortunately, he is now engaged to Elizabeth Tyson (Lauren Holly), and their impending marriage is attached to a major corporate merger being engineered by Linus.
To distract her from David, Linus steps in and woos Sabrina — strictly for business reasons, of course. And you can probably guess the rest.
This new leisurely paced "Sabrina" is quite faithful to the old "Sabrina," smartly bringing the story into the '90s with dialogue that is witty and clever and with plenty of opportunities for each cast member to shine. (Though I do miss the character of the brothers' father, who was a real highlight in the older film but is absent here.)
In the final third, however, the film seems drained of its humor for a lengthy period of sentimentality, losing some of its momentum. It does pick up again, but a bit of judicious editing could have easily solved the problem. (Of course, who's going to tell Sydney Pollack that his movie's too long?)
But that's a small complaint, considering how joyous most of the movie is, highlighted by the performances of the top-notch cast. Ford's deadpan delivery is perfect, and television talk-show host Kinnear is very funny in his first big-screen performance. And Ormond, who left me rather cold in "Legends of the Fall" and "First Knight," is quite luminous and energetic here in a starmaking turn. Marchand also gets some wonderful lines as the brothers' mother, though veterans Angie Dickinson (with heavy eye makeup that gives her a weird raccoon look) and Richard Crenna have little to do in what should have been beefier supporting roles.
"Sabrina" is rated PG for some mild language.