Did Linus Larrabee really love Sabrina?

Question

The 1995 remake of Sabrina is a true classic and one of my favorite movies. But there is one thing about it that has always bothered me. Linus Larrabee spends more than half the film faking that he likes Sabrina, all to derail her imminent romance with David Larrabee. And then when Linus sends Sabrina to Paris and everything blows up, we're supposed to believe that Linus is actually in love with Sabrina, and further, that's he's more right for her than David.

I never bought it.

I've been watching this movie for 20 years and I have never been convinced that Linus really loves her. I understand that he felt extreme guilt in the end, which led to the confession. So we see that he's not a monster, just a greedy businessman willing to get dirty in order to clinch a billion-dollar merger. I buy that.

I understand that at the end she says, "I thought it was all a lie." And Linus replies, "It was a lie. And then it was a dream." And you could certainly argue that he wouldn't have rushed to Paris to be with her if he didn't love her. But I'm stuck. This brilliant work of filmmaking just seems to finally unravel when we're made to believe that Linus and Sabrina are really in love and it's a perfect match. (I believe she loves him, just not the reverse.) The yarn unravels and I'm jolted out of the film, feeling like I've just been conned, and that I'm witnessing a movie trying to lie to me.

I would love to hear some film aficionados' opinion on this, and would be appreciative to learn why I am wrong, and why it's true and authentic that Linus really does love Sabrina.

Answer 1

I love this film... and it's one of few films I share equal love for both the original and the remake.

I've personally never had the problem that you do. I think the story is compelling and clear. Linus loves Sabrina and she loves him.

You said it yourself... Why would Linus find her in Paris if he didn't love her? He'd already solved the problem... there was no need to chase her otherwise. David is sticking with his fiance and facilitating the merger with Tyson and Sabrina has everything she needs to stay in Paris for as long as she likes, between Linus' offer and her father's money. He must love her. That's the only reason he would chase after her.

So, why don't you feel it? Well, I wonder if at least part of it could be attributed to Ford's let's call it "wooden" romantic performance. Linus is supposed to be stiff, driven, and single-minded. Utterly analytical and unfeeling. This is a great role for Ford, who often comes off as a pretty flat romantic performer. He's a great straight-man (Han Solo), can carry a film as a dramatic lead (Blade Runner), plays a good clueless romantic (Indiana Jones, Han Solo)... but he's really not much of a romantic lead. Even in one of my favorite films, Working Girl, a romantic comedy, his character seems to be generally romantically inept... which is part of what makes him in it cute.

This, then, makes you wonder if it wasn't intentional. Linus, like Ford, probably has difficulty expressing love. They spend much of the film showing that he's pretty "above" those feelings, if only because he's so involved with work. So, perhaps it makes sense that when he finally figures it out and expresses himself, he'd seem a bit stiff. He's doing this for the first time and struggling with how he feels.

But Linus has certainly done the "work" of falling in love. For all that he seems disconnected to Sabrina, he actually recognizes her when she returns from Paris initially, seems informed about where she was and what she was doing there, understands her interests enough to come up with things for them to do together that would make her interested in him over his brother. This may be an overly analytical way of deciding what "love" is but I'll go a step further.

We don't really know how long Sabrina has been home from Paris. It's probably a few weeks. Would a couple generally be even thinking about declaring love for each other after a month of dating? Unlikely. And these two haven't even been "dating", they've been spending a lot of time together, sure, but that's not really the same thing. Perhaps the reason you don't buy it is that... well... it's a bit far fetched. But, well, it is a movie.

Answer 2

Yes he does love Sabrina. Keep in mind the original actor that was going to play Linus is the original movie was not Humphrey Bogart, it was suppose to be Cary Grant! It would have been a lot more believable that Sabrina would have fallen for him as well getting over her teenage crush for his younger brother. I think they tried to correct that issue by casting Harrison Ford in the remake; it was definitely believable a mutual attraction was formed between them…..

Answer 3

Before Sabrina leaves to Paris she wants to speak to David one last time and comes to his room, she tells him not to come out and says that she truly knows him and if there is anything she can do for him, she will do it. Then Linus shows his face and Sabrina runs away. I think Linus misunderstood and thought that Sabrina really wanted to talk to him. A lot later, in Linus office, after they share a kiss and his secretary brings the flight tickets, Sabrina is elated and says something along the lines "who would have thought, I always only had eyes for David, but you make me so happy". That's when Linus realizes those words back then were ment for David and procedes to hurt Sabrina by telling her it was all a lie. Eventually, he does come around and goes after Sabrina to Paris and then repeats those words she told him in the beginning (you are the only one who truly knows me...). In my mind, Linus became infatuated with Sabrina that night before she left for Paris and waited for her ever since. After all they make a point of it in the movie that everyone thinks Linus is scary, even as a kid, so those words must have left a deep impression on him.