Number 520 on the top 1000 films of all time is Billy Wilder's 1954 romantic-comedy 'Sabrina.'
Sabrina Fairchild (Audrey Hepburn) is the daughter of Thomas Fairchild - the chauffeur to the wealthy Larabee family. All her life, she has held an unrequited love to younger brother and playboy David (William Holden.) Also present is David's older brother Linus (Humphrey Bogart) who soon starts harbouring feelings of his own towards Sabrina.
Never mind 520 on the top 1000 films of all time, this film should be number one on the most boring films of all time. Seriously, it was as dull as your average period drama. And I'm not hating on romantic-comedies - I thoroughly enjoyed Breakfast at Tiffany's and Roman Holiday - but Sabrina was insufferably dull.
It was all so flat. There was so little drama. And so little conflict. Okay, fair enough, Sabrina's broken heart at David's constant womanising leads to her trying to commit suicide by locking herself in a garage with a running car, but she is quickly rescued by Linus, no harm done.
She is shipped off to a French-finishing school where she takes some cooking classes for a couple of years, before returning home where David finally starts taking an interest in her. It's hardly on the some levels of drama as the Notebook.
*Spoilers* It's later revealed that Linus has macchinated a marriage between David and Elizabeth Tyson - wealthy heiress to a business empire, all to serve the Larabees' business interests. In doing so, he falls in love with Sabrina and she him, creating a love triangle between David, Linus and Sabrina. Yet this never worked due to the lack of on-screen chemistry between the three leads, probably due to Bogart's dislike of Hepburn and Holden.
Hepburn is an obviously charming and accomplished actress especially in performing her verbose lines, so it's a shame I didn't like this film more. There was just nothing to interest me.
I didn't think this film worked at all as a Rom com. It was predictable and dull. Some of the minor characters were quite amusing. It goes to show that having a great director and 3 of the most charismatic stars of the age is no guarantee that the final product is worth watching.
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