Film: Sabrina (1995)

Well, you might remember that I saw the original Sabrina (1954 version) a while ago on Irish TV. A charming little film, where Audrey Hepburn plays an ingenue, daughter of John Williams, the chauffeur to a wealthy family. She's always had a crush on William Holden, the younger, playboy son of the family he works for, but he's always passed her over, in favour of more glamorous ladies. Well, off she goes to Paris - and comes back all grown up, fashionable, confident, and desirable. So much so, in fact, that he's willing to throw away his engagement to a girl from a rich family, a business merger with whom could be very lucrative for his own family business. Horrified, his work-oriented big brother, Humphrey Bogart, plans to distract Sabrina by wooing her himself. However, he soon finds himself falling for her, too..

So, the remake was on this afternoon. Julia Ormond is in the title role, her father is John Wood, her crush is now Greg Kinnear, and his brother is Harrison Ford. Nancy Marchand is their deadpan mother. Well, I was looking forward to Harrison Ford, at least - always enjoy watching him.

Ah lord, it's awful! Well, I suppose I've seen worse - but it's so bland! Julia Ormond is no Audrey Hepburn - Greg Kinnear is watchable enough, and John Wood is good. But Harrison Ford is a real letdown. He's as dull as ditchwater through the whole thing - where I thought that Humphrey Bogart could be redeemed from his workaholic ways, I never believed the transformation with Harrison Ford. For one thing, his demeanour never changes - he's kind of morose throughout, mumbling through his lines. What she's supposed to fall for, I really can't tell. There's literally no chemistry between them - were this a true story, I'd expect them to break up very rapidly after his move to Paris. Bah humbug - skip this, watch the original; as usual, the remake just isn't as good.

For Saturday - Up in the Cheap Seats, unusually, has a Meetup I can make! A couple of intrepid souls are watching a live-streamed reading of a Canadian play - starts at 11.30pm our time, and we'll chat before and after, is the plan. Yep, sounds like something I can manage! So I've booked a ticket. Should make a change, at least..