Netflix And Chill: Sabrina (1995)

Although I like Harrison Ford, and have always been a big fan of his most iconic roles, I have overlooked many of his performances in "lesser"movies that I am only now keen to check out. This is all due to getting to see a bit more of Ford offscreen, and enjoying the droll and sardonic nature he often deploys in interviews. Age has allowed him to settle into the persona of an outright curmudgeon, but that has always seemed to be his preferred position.

Sabrina, a remake of a Billy Wilder-Audrey Hepburn-Humphrey Bogart film I am not familiar with, is the tale of a chauffeur's daughter (the titular Sabrina, played here by Julia Ormond) who has spent her life in love with the young playboy (David, played by Greg Kinnear) of the rich family that her father works for. Aiming to stay away from him when she is older, Sabrina starts life anew in Paris, but she is drawn back to David when she hears that he is finally looking to settle down and get married. His union with Elizabeth Tyson (Lauren Holly) will work in the favour of his older brother (Linus, played by Ford), who is looking to put together a very attractive merger package with Elizabeth's parents. As it quickly becomes clear that Sabrina may throw a spanner in the works, Linus sets out to distract her. Which is when he inevitably starts falling for her.

Written by Barbara Benedek and David Rayfiel, who I assume just had to tweak the source material to match their stars and the shiny modern world of the mid-90s, Sabrina is lightweight and surprisingly enjoyable throughout, mainly thanks to the casting. It's all a bit odd during the opening scenes, up until Sabrina returns and reconnects with a very impressed David, but things soon settle into a pleasing narrative that shows the ice cold and business-minded Linus being thawed out and reminded of how much more fun he could be having with all of his money and resources.

Director Sydney Pollack has always been reliable, if not always the very best choice for most of the films that he helmed, but he always had a particular knack for working with enjoyably varied casts orbiting one or two big names, which is why he does so well here. Ford may be the star, but Kinnear also gets to dazzle, and Ormond is allowed to give the kind of performance that feels like it's announcing her as a new shining star in the constellation of great leading ladies.

Ford gives the kind of performance I was hoping for here, very gruff and matter-of-fact while others act emotionally around him, and his ever-present charisma make the third act easy to buy into when people start to suspect that he and Sabrina have a connection. Ormond manages to delight and enchant without ever being turned into a complete "manic pixie dream girl"stereotype. She's just someone who was once an outsider, supported by a loving father to be able to do whatever she truly wanted to do with her life. Kinnear is sidelined for a lot of the runtime, but his main scenes, whether sitting down on some champagne glasses or reasserting his place in the family business, are highlights. Holly does well enough in her role, Richard Crenna and Angie Dickinson are a good choice to play her parents, Nancy Marchand is the mother of both David and Linus, and plays her part well, and John Wood, playing Sabrina's father, tries hard to stop you from wondering how much better someone like Tom Conti, James Fox, or Tom Courtenay would have been in his role. It's fun to see Paul Giamatti in a very small role, before he was being celebrated for his body of work, and Dana Ivey gets to deliver some of the best lines in the script as a very capable secretary/P.A.

It's easy to see why this wasn't a big hit when it was first released, and easy to see why it's one of many films destined to be forgotten by film fans seeking out more interesting fare, or just some of the many films that are much better than this, but Sabrina is full of performances and moments that should at least keep you smiling throughout. If you remain completely unmoved by any of it, I suspect you're actually the real-life equivalent of the character portrayed by Ford.

7/10

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Netflix And Chill: Hot Frosty (2024)

While people may have been worried about Netflix making the bold move of "poaching" Lacey Chabert, AKA Christmas movie queen, for one of their main seasonal offerings this year, rest assured that there's nothing here to cause concern. Yes, there are a few bigger names in supporting roles than you might see in some other movies like this, and someone had enough cash to ensure a few big songs made it into the soundtrack selection, but the rest is pretty standard and safe stuff featuring someone who has played perfectly in the space that she has now made her main brand.

Chabert plays Kathy Barrett, a young widow who runs a popular cafe/diner in her small town. She is given a scarf by a friend one day, a scarf that may well bring her some good luck and love, and she wraps it around the neck of a strangely ripped snowman that stands alongside some others in the centre of town. A little tinkly music and hint of magic later, Jack (Dustin Milligan) is standing in that spot. And he's wearing naught but a scarf. He is in love with Kathy, for giving him life (of course), and starts trying to convince her that he is the perfect snowman-made-human for her. Meanwhile, the local Sheriff (Craig Robinson) and his deputy (Joe Lo Truglio) are looking for someone new in town who may have damaged a window and exposed himself to a couple of residents. 

Writer Russell Hainline doesn't seem to have been in the movie business for too long, although that's just going by the credits that he has amassed since 2018 (who knows how long he has been slogging away over numerous screenplays and trying his hand in a variety of roles), but he's certainly been busy delivering no less than five Christmas (TV) movies since 2022. Judging him by this alone, he knows the formula, and he knows how to have fun with it. Hot Frosty isn't entirely successful, it's surprisingly jarring to see both Robinson and Lo Trulgio in such prominent roles here, but it works well enough when not trying to turn the central character in a low-budget Buddy The Elf. 

Chabert is effortlessly delightful in the lead role, even when having to make a tiresome Mean Girls gag to justify the now-obligatory reference to other Netflix Christmas movies. Milligan does well as the innocent/naïve Jack, and he does well to bring a fun and energy to the role that saves him from being as irritatingly bland as many of these male romantic leads often are. Elsewhere, both Robinson and Lo Truglio are fun, even if they feel mis-cast, and there are enjoyable moments for the likes of Katy Mixon Greer, Sherry Miller, Lauren Holly, and everyone else orbiting our leads.

Director Jerry Ciccoritti is maybe not known for this kind of stuff, but he's been working consistently on TV shows and TV movies for the past few decades, after starting his career with some darker material in the mid-1980s. He is the very definition of a consummate professional, and subsequently treats the material here exactly how it should be treated. It's sweet, it's earnest, things are done to satisfy viewers who don't want to be distracted by pesky things like logic or plausibility, and it aims to give people a good helping of cold snow and warm loveliness, which I guess could also be referred to as a . . . Hot Frosty.

Like many of these Christmas movies, it's not really good, not when compared to other non-holiday movies, but it's enjoyable enough while all of the snow-dusted silliness plays out.

6/10

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Santa Jr. (2002)

If you spent some of your childhood discovering the filmography of Doug McClure then you will have seen one or two films from director Kevin Connor (and I was able to interview the man here). The fact that he has been working in the industry for decades, and working in a variety of styles, made me feel a small amount of comfort when I saw that he directed this. Whether the end result was good or bad, I could feel as if I was in safe hands. 

Things don’t take long to get properly started, with writer Marc Hershon (far less experienced than Connor, but certainly doing a decent enough job here) presenting viewers with a scene that shows a potential Father Christmas figure being discovered in a house that he doesn’t belong in. This leads to his arrest, which eventually leads to him being placed under house arrest at the home of his defending attorney. Determined to prove his innocence and save Christmas, the “criminal” needs to use some magic as he attempts to convince people that he is who he claims to be - Chris Kringle Jr. AKA Santa Jr.

With Nick Stabile in the lead role, doing a decent job of portraying someone trying to give themselves a fighting chance of succeeding in taking over the family business, and major supporting turns from Lauren Holly (as the defending attorney, Susan Flynn) and Judd Nelson (a cop named Darryl Bedford), this is pleasantly inoffensive stuff that allows enjoyable actors to join in with some decidedly okay festive nonsense. There’s also a helpful elf (played by Ed Gale) and a Santa-costumed burglar (Roger Bumpass) who causes the big problem for Santa Jr. George Wallace is another cop, one with a more pleasant disposition, and Charles Robinson is a welcome sight in his very small role, playing the judge who sentences our lead to his house arrest.

This is the kind of film in which every problem has an easy solution (magic dust, of course), but it generally does well enough with the pacing, and positioning of various obstacles, to keep people invested in how everything will turn out. I mean . . . we KNOW how everything will turn out, but it is good to see how Hershon decides to write the way there.

Connor keeps everything simple and in line with the tone of the script, knowing that the focus is always on either seasonal trimmings or the moments in which Holly and Nelson might start warming up to one another. There could be some more done - I think we are used to seeing wayyyy more decorations and snow in these holiday movies nowadays - but a) the sunny territory of California is a small way for it to feel a bit different from other films in this vein, and b) this was the first Christmas film from Connor, who would go on to direct at least four or five more throughout the next decade or so. I guarantee you that some of those films allow the man to fully throw himself into the chilly/warming tropes that feature in most of these schedule-fillers.

I enjoyed this, mostly because of my appreciation of Holly and Nelson. Which I am sure was the plan from the start anyway. It’s a shame that they couldn’t set it somewhere with a stronger air of Christmas though, so it loses a point or two there.

5/10

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April Fools: Dumb & Dumber (1994)

It's a relief to watch Dumb & Dumber today and realise that it holds up pretty well, because the success of the film was a bit of a mixed blessing. It helped Jim Carrey to get to the A-list, and it helped the Farrelly brothers go on to make great films like Kingpin, There's Something About Mary and Stuck On You. Unfortunately, it also plunged Jeff Daniels into a bit of a comedy purgatory for a number of years, and it also led to movies like Say It Isn't So and *shudder* Movie 43.

The slim plot sees Lloyd Christmas (Carrey) and Harry Dunne (Daniels) embarking on a trip across the country to return a briefcase to Mary Swanson (Lauren Holly). Unfortunately, the briefcase contains money that was supposed to be delivered to two criminals (played by Mike Starr and Karen Duffy). Mary left it behind deliberately, and is now unaware that Lloyd, who has fallen in love with her, and Harry are determined to travel to Aspen to give it back to her. The criminals ARE aware of the situation, but they need to figure out just what kind of people they're dealing with. Well, as is obvious from the start of the movie, they're idiots.

Lloyd and Harry aren't the most likable movie characters ever to appear onscreen, but viewers will keep rooting for them because they are more like spiteful children than sneaky adults. In fact, thanks to the performances from Carrey and Daniels, that's exactly how they come across. Whether they're chasing an impossible dream, being mean to one another, or being greatly entertained by the simplest of pleasures, these two characters are consistently child-like. Holly somehow manages to stay graceful under pressure whenever she has to share the screen with either of the two leads, Starr and Duffy are fun villains, and Victoria Rowell has a couple of great scenes in the lead up to the finale that manages to be fairly predictable, despite one little surprise thrown in to mix things up a bit. Special mentions should go to Cam Neely, for his portrayal of a mean trucker named Sea Bass, and Harland Williams, playing a traffic cop who appears for one small, but memorable, scene.

Bobby and Peter Farrelly both wrote, with the help of Bennett Yellin, and directed this slice of clever idiocy, and it's really when you see more and more misguided attempts to recapture its essence that you realise just how good it is. The bad taste, the toilet humour, the slapstick moments, everything is put together in just the right way to make for a great final product that entertains everyone but the all-too-easily-offended. The whole thing moves along at a good pace, the soundtrack is full of lively and enjoyable tunes, and it's all centred by that great pairing of Carrey and Daniels, two stooges who argue and fight together as people can do only when they really care for one another.

8/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dumb-Dumber-Blu-ray-US-Import/dp/B001IKKMD6/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1396678187&sr=8-4&keywords=dumb+and+dumber