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Sabrina
Sabrina has been in love with David ever since she was a little kid. But unfortunately to her, he keeps going out with all these other women all the time. So one night when she realizes David might never be hers, she tries to commit suicide. Linus walks in on her in the garage after it makes a lot of noise. She lies about what she was doing there and Linus takes her home. She reluctantly agrees to go to a cooking school in Paris like her father wants. As it turns out, she learns a lot there, and when she comes back she's a changed person (at least in terms of hairstyle and clothing). Once he realizes it's her, David becomes smitten! But shacking up with a chauffeur's daughter spells bad business for the sugar production, and so Linus steps into the picture and tries to make Sabrina fall for him instead.
Directed by the talented Billy Wilder, what we have here is an elegantly put together, stylish romantic comedy. And as tired as a love triangle might sound, Wilder makes sure to never make any of the two men pining for Sabrina's attention unlikable. William Holden fills up the screen with his charismatic, wide smile and makes his character an amiable, if very clumsy seducter. He doesn't get as much screentime as the other two stars, but is very good as David Larabee, with a fair share of humorous moments, the highlight being when he sits on champagne glasses hidden in his back pocket and has to get shards off glass removed from his ass. It's made even better by him later trying to get up from a hammock and falling down. Humphrey Bogart gives a very memorable performance, who with just a small, but noticable change of tone in his voice shows he means business in one minute and the next one that he's out for love. His internal conflict over romance versus making money is a driving force throughout. He doesn't realize the problem with trying to steal someone's girl as a mere diversion can result in him really falling in love with her if she's charming enough. Thanks to Wilder's and Ernest Lehmann's script successfully balancing the thin line of a man harboring devious intentions yet also genuinely caring for someone, Linus never turns into a villain. Linus has only known business all his life, falling in love with a woman is something new entirely, that he was never prepared for.
Audrey Hepburn as the title character lights up the screen with her childlike affectionate eyes, and has a look you never forget.
Similiarly to how David and Linus are portrayed, Sabrina is handled with great care throughout. I disagree with one reviewer calling Sabrina a brat. Rather, I see her as the hopeless romantic, who as her father quotes, is "reaching for the moon". Many of us have been there at one point or another. The only way she'd come off as a brat is if she was played by Paris Hilton.
One criticism I do have is that it was never really explained why David later has so little time for Sabrina. At first he had to heal, but after he had healed, what was the problem? You'd think he would want to spend more time with the woman he really loves. Thankfully this is made up for with the sinewy chemistry between Hepburn and Bogart.
Sabrina is one of the all-time great sweet romantic comedies, which never oversteps in sentimentality and treats all its characters with intelligence and respect. It's so damned pleasant that you can't get enough of it.
Sabrina has been in love with David ever since she was a little kid. But unfortunately to her, he keeps going out with all these other women all the time. So one night when she realizes David might never be hers, she tries to commit suicide. Linus walks in on her in the garage after it makes a lot of noise. She lies about what she was doing there and Linus takes her home. She reluctantly agrees to go to a cooking school in Paris like her father wants. As it turns out, she learns a lot there, and when she comes back she's a changed person (at least in terms of hairstyle and clothing). Once he realizes it's her, David becomes smitten! But shacking up with a chauffeur's daughter spells bad business for the sugar production, and so Linus steps into the picture and tries to make Sabrina fall for him instead.
Directed by the talented Billy Wilder, what we have here is an elegantly put together, stylish romantic comedy. And as tired as a love triangle might sound, Wilder makes sure to never make any of the two men pining for Sabrina's attention unlikable. William Holden fills up the screen with his charismatic, wide smile and makes his character an amiable, if very clumsy seducter. He doesn't get as much screentime as the other two stars, but is very good as David Larabee, with a fair share of humorous moments, the highlight being when he sits on champagne glasses hidden in his back pocket and has to get shards off glass removed from his ass. It's made even better by him later trying to get up from a hammock and falling down. Humphrey Bogart gives a very memorable performance, who with just a small, but noticable change of tone in his voice shows he means business in one minute and the next one that he's out for love. His internal conflict over romance versus making money is a driving force throughout. He doesn't realize the problem with trying to steal someone's girl as a mere diversion can result in him really falling in love with her if she's charming enough. Thanks to Wilder's and Ernest Lehmann's script successfully balancing the thin line of a man harboring devious intentions yet also genuinely caring for someone, Linus never turns into a villain. Linus has only known business all his life, falling in love with a woman is something new entirely, that he was never prepared for.
WARNING: spoilers below
When Sabrina does find out he was using her in order to kickstart his company's sugar deal, you can tell he feels a great deal of remorse and regret, even in the moment he's telling her he was about to ship her off to Paris without him. When the ending arrives where Linus changes his mind and goes with her on the trip, your heart feels fulfilled.
Similiarly to how David and Linus are portrayed, Sabrina is handled with great care throughout. I disagree with one reviewer calling Sabrina a brat. Rather, I see her as the hopeless romantic, who as her father quotes, is "reaching for the moon". Many of us have been there at one point or another. The only way she'd come off as a brat is if she was played by Paris Hilton.
One criticism I do have is that it was never really explained why David later has so little time for Sabrina. At first he had to heal, but after he had healed, what was the problem? You'd think he would want to spend more time with the woman he really loves. Thankfully this is made up for with the sinewy chemistry between Hepburn and Bogart.
Sabrina is one of the all-time great sweet romantic comedies, which never oversteps in sentimentality and treats all its characters with intelligence and respect. It's so damned pleasant that you can't get enough of it.