Between the Pages

Sabrina Fairchild (Julia Ormond) is the gawky daughter of the chauffeur to the wealthy Larrabee family, in Long Island.  For years, she has been secretly in love with youngest Larrabee son David (Greg Kinnear), but he doesn’t seem to notice her, instead choosing to drift from one woman to another.  Sabrina goes to Paris for two years to work for Vogue magazine, and when she gets back, David cannot even recognise the beautiful and sophisticated young woman.  But he is engaged to Elizabeth (Lauren Holly), with whose father’s company, David’s career driven brother Linus (Harrison Ford) hopes to effect a merger.  Linus is determined to keep Sabrina away from David – if David does not marry Elizabeth, the merger will not go ahead – so he starts spending time with Sabrina himself.  But then Linus finds his own feelings towards Sabrina starting to change.

This is an updated remake of the 1954 Billy Wilder film of the same name, which in turn was adapted from Samuel Taylor’s play.  Remakes are often met with derision, and remaking a film which was directed by the great Billy Wilder, and which starred three of the most loved film stars of the time – Audrey Hepburn, William Holden and Humphrey Bogart – is no mean feat.  I loved the 1954 film, and really only wanted to see the 1995 version to see how it compared.  I’ll be honest – I expected to be disappointed.  I love Holden, I love Hepburn, and Sabrina (1954) was such a sparkly, romantic film.  So I was quite surprised by how much I actually did enjoy this remake.  True, Julia Ormond is no Audrey Hepburn, but Hepburn was in a class of her own.  Julia does a pretty good job of playing the titular character though.  Greg Kinnear played the part of David well, although again, he can’t compete with William Holden’s portrayal.  But Harrison Ford was wonderful as Linus.  I actually preferred him to Bogart (maybe because Bogart did not get on with his co-stars or his director in the original film, and Sabrina is not one of his better performances, with many people thinking that he was mis-cast).  Ford brings more depth to the role, and makes Linus sympathetic, even as he is plotting to save his proposed merger, at the expense of Sabrina’s feelings.

I did think it sagged slightly in the middle – after Sabrina returned from Paris and was met with amazement by David and everybody else at the Larrabee mansion, there seemed to be a period of not a lot happening – but overall it was entertaining enough, and the ending was satisfying, even though I knew what was coming.

Special mentions to Nancy Marchand as Maude Larrabee, the matriarch of the family, and Lauren Holly, as Elizabeth – David’s fiancee (who is probably too good for him), who both were excellent in their supporting roles.

Overall, this is a film worth seeing if you like romantic, old-fashioned comedy, or just want something easy going and undemanding to watch for a couple of hours.  I’d recommend it on it’s own merits, but if I absolutely had to pick between this version and the 1954 film, the 1954 film would still come out on top.

Year of release: 1995

Director: Sydney Pollack

Producers: Sydney Pollack, Lindsay Doran, Scott Rudin, Ronald L. Schwary

Writers: Samuel A. Taylor (play and earlier screenplay), Billy Wilder (earlier screenplay), Ernest Lehman (earlier screenplay), Barbara Benedek, David Rayfiel

Main cast: Julia Ormond, Harrison Ford, Greg Kinnear, Nancy Marchand, Lauren Holly, Angie Dickinson, Richard Crenna, Dana Ivey, John Wood

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Click here for my review of the 1954 adaptation.

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