MovieChat Forums > Sabrina (1995) Discussion > i just don't think julie ormond is the r...

i just don't think julie ormond is the right kind of pretty

posted 10 years ago by cgraves04
8 replies | jump to latest

and, call me shallow, but sabrina's beauty is a big part of what makes the movie. david's attraction to her hinges on her beauty, in fact. and while i think julie ormond is a fine actress, she's not very youthful in this role either. i can buy audrey hepburn's level of obsession partly because she looks so incredibly young and young girls obsess, but julie ormond not so much. she seems more like a nerdy stalker to me.

i'm also not a big fan of greg kinnear as david, though i think harrison ford is absolutely fantastic as linus.

i really want to like this remake, but in the end i find it very uncomfortable to watch. it's not different enough from the original. imho, it either needs to be a modern but very close retelling of the original or it needs to be something new and exciting, and this film is neither. and yes, i do love the original, but i've seen both films a number of times since i was a kid before i had any loyalty to audrey hepburn and this one has never worked for me.

[–] MyMovieTVRomance 10 years ago

I agree with you on all points. She was not "the right kind of pretty" at all. And, it might have helped if I, as the viewer, was at all attracted to her, but I wasn't. In fact, just the opposite. I kept wishing for Natasha Richardson in the part; while she's nothing like Audrey, Richardson would have at least brought more of a Princess Di thing to the role, which would have been nice.

I unfortunately found Ormond to be a real turn-off. And, thank goodness they changed her from the gawky way she was in the beginning, or I doubt I would have sat through it!

Please excuse typos/funny wording; I use speech-recognition that doesn't always recognize!

[–] texasgal1976 9 years ago

I disagree. Yes Julia Ormond was older but I actually liked her being older. That was much more believable than watching Harrison Ford and Greg Kinnear run around with some very young flighty little thing. Also, I think Julia is a unique kind of beauty. She's not cookie cutter or conventional in the looks department and she pulled off the sophisticated and changed Sabrina very well.

[–] IanDSmith 9 years ago

She has sophistication but enough of a naïveté to be interesting. I liked her, and the age gap with Ford is closer to being... acceptable.

[–] huwdj 8 years ago

For me what's missing is Audrey Hepburn's sense of comedy. Her young girl is almost ditzy, less sophisticated and perhaps more vulnerable. But maybe that's the directors choice?

[–] kkcowgirl 8 years ago

I agree!! Audrey pulled off the tomboy-to-elegance transition so convincingly. I think that it would be difficult for just about any actress to do it as well as she did.

[–] thebabe3 8 years ago

one of the reasons I love this movie is because she is so beautiful. She was perfect in a quiet kind of way.

[–] IceQueen99 8 years ago

She's why I love this version too.

[–] speeddmon 8 years ago

I found her to be just as attractive if not more than Audrey.