It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Blistering performances.

Sabrina Fairchild (Julia Ormond) grew up as the mousy daughter of the chauffeur (John Wood) of the wealthy Larrabee family on the north shore of Long Island. It was a grand estate and she would spy on their grand parties from a tree. Maude Larrabee (Nancy Marchand) inherited the Larrabee Corporation from her dead husband. Cold-hearted Linus Larrabee (Harrison Ford) took the company to even greater heights. David (Greg Kinnear) is the playboy son who Sabrina is completely infatuated with. She goes off to Paris to work on Vogue as a lowly assistant. She slowly moves away from her David infatuation to a love affair with a photographer. Meanwhile David is falling for Elizabeth Tyson (Lauren Holly) whose family business Linus wants to merge with. Elizabeth wants to marry David but he is reluctant to let go of his playboy lifestyle. Sabrina comes home and David doesn't recognize her at first. David becomes infatuated threatening to derail the marriage plans and Linus' big business deal.The movie is asking too much of Julia Ormond. She looks too old to play a teenager. She is also too young to play the love interest for Harrison Ford. Their chemistry is way too cold. That is the biggest missing element. Greg Kinnear actually has better chemistry. They could have worked together in a romance. Harrison Ford is not good in this role. In fact, I have difficulty pointing to any good romantic leading roles for him that actually worked without an action thriller. However, the movie has the solid foundations of the '54 film. That much is there. It has some great scenes. It seems to always work when Julia Ormond gets emotionally walloped. She's possibly the best part of the movie. Ford just doesn't have that extra gear to be the sensitive romantic lead when the movie calls for it.

Well I know that usually the remakes of such classic films are destined to be heavily criticized and to be expected with prejudice. But in this particular case, that kind of attitude would be definitely wrong and unfair. The 1995 version of Sabrina by Sidney Pollack is by far better in my opinion. The story is of course the same. A young and inexperienced girl goes to work in Paris and "reinvents" her personality and her style. When she comes back, radically changed, she finally catches the attention and the romantic interest of the man she has been in love with since her teenage years. But his strict and workaholic brother is determined not to let the romance evolve at any cost out of fear that this could destroy his business plans! As far as the characters are concerned, the truth is that there has been a little but important change. For example, Julia Ormond's Sabrina is stronger, more confident, independent and eloquent than the character of the 1954 film. Audrey Hepburn played a naive and more intimidated girl. Greg Kinnear's David in in exactly the same mood as in the original, meaning a good-hearted, charming, but a little superficial and irresponsible playboy. Now, in my opinion, the most interesting character is the older brother, Linus, who in this film is portrayed as having a much darker, cynical and introverted (almost rude) character than in the original. I personally like this change because I think it makes the plot and the hero more interesting (I think the line "the world's only living heart donor" is hilarious and a classic!) At this point, we should absolutely give an honorable mention to Harrison Ford's performance(for which he was nominated for a golden globe that year). He plays the sort of "villain" of the story in a most convincing and elegant way. Contrary to most of his roles, this time Ford adopts harsh facial expressions (almost not smiling at all) and a very severe look. this is why his attempt to soften a little bit in order to approach Sabrina creates- an almost adorable- contradiction. Personally, I think that Ford and Ormond have definitely more chemistry than the original couple of Bogart and Hepburn and that they are way more convincing. Finally, I would like to mention the magnificent music of John Williams and the songs of Sting- all these create a really romantic but still modern fairytale. I highly recommend the movie since it's romantic, funny and quite clever actually. I give it a 9/10.

"Sabrina" is a pretty easily likable romantic comedy, a genre of which I am a fan, even though it is hard to find good ones. This is a decent film, but now that I am comparing it to the 1954 original, it is easier for me to be critical. This movie has a good plot, some humor, and decent romance. Also, I am pleased to find movies like this with so little objectionable content, making it appropriate for the whole family, though the younger ones may not be completely interested. I hate to complain about this movie, but there are a few downsides. It runs too long overall, and it slows down too much toward the end. If you ask me, Harrison Ford doesn't really fit his role and seems to old and lifeless for the part he is intending to play. Also, I'm afraid Greg Kinnear simply cannot fill the brilliance of William Holden's shoes in the original. Julia Ormond takes Audrey Hepburn's role fairly well, but none of these three can possibly compare to the excellence of the original cast. The old film really was not outdated and didn't need to be updated, as films like "The Shop Around the Corner" or "The Parent Trap" did. Despite those things, I'm not going to criticize this film any more. It's good for a date film or when you don't want to think too hard but just want to be entertained and happy. I give it a slight recommendation, but I'd suggest the original with more priority.*** out of ****

Desultory remake of the Billy Wilder classic.Julia Ormond gets the Audrey Hepburn role, and while those are pretty big shoes to fill, she could have at least tried to give a more compelling performance than the listless one she actually gives. "Sabrina" doesn't really work if you spend the whole movie wondering why any man would want to bother with such a wet noodle.Of course, the same could be said for the Harrison Ford character as well -- who'd want to waste her time on such a fuddy-duddy when the uber-charming Greg Kinnear is waiting in the background? Though Kinnear's charm oozes out so thickly you can practically see it, he manages to stay just this side of smarmy, making you wish the movie was about him.There's no compelling reason to see this as long as the original is out there available to rent.Grade: C