A prep school student needing money agrees to "babysit" a blind man, but the job is not at all what he anticipated.A prep school student needing money agrees to "babysit" a blind man, but the job is not at all what he anticipated.A prep school student needing money agrees to "babysit" a blind man, but the job is not at all what he anticipated.
- Won 1 Oscar
- 6 wins & 14 nominations total
- George Willis, Jr.
- (as Philip S. Hoffman)
Featured reviews
The movie is simple and good, Pacino is the one who elevated the whole material, the tango scene is great and the entire scene when Pacino gives his speech at the school is amazing .
In "Scent of a Woman," Pacino presents this dark, gloomy character perfectly in his Oscar winning performance. He overwhelms you with his constant bellowing and ordering of O'Donnell's Charlie. He's a man who never left the Military. My guess is that you can never take the military of out the man, only the man out of the military. He doesn't blame anyone or anything for his blindness. He's man who thinks that somehow, he was destined to "tour the battlefield" this way.
The movie itself is not, technically, great. Very good, but not great. The plot is quite predictable and driven via patented Hollywood devices. The courtroom climax contains one of Pacino's most powerful monologues. However, its outcome is melodramatic.
Personally, I thought the whole idea of Pacino being more perceptive of the world than any man or woman with perfect eyesight was far-fetched and sometimes more implausible than stunning. I'm sure there are blind men in the world who ARE in fact very perceptive to what goes on in the world, but few--if any--who can recall a whole history triggered simply by the sound of one's voice. How is he able to tell Chris O'Donnell has pimples? He's not handicapped by blindness; this guy has psychic powers! He doesn't need sight!
I do have to say that some of the most memorable lines come from this movie. Pacino says some original and wildly funny monologues involving subject matter I cannot discuss in this message. And of course there's the timeless quote: "Hoo ha!" Which later became a Pacino trademark.
"Scent of a Woman" is a somewhat flawed, but effective and entertaining film. It's a must-see for Pacino fans everywhere! It's not everyday you can catch a performance this powerful!
My score: 8 (out of 10)
As for the performances: Pacino, I dare say, gave his best performance ever. It was also the riskiest. We're not supposed to like him, but we do. We can tell he doesn't think that Charlie is a moron. We can tell that he likes him in fact as a son. It strikes us as sad though. We can sense that this man has always been lonely. But then he lost his sight because of his mere stupidity and fondness for booze. He became even more lonely and sarcastic. Mean in fact, but funny. I was laughing my $ss off when he drove the Fararri, yelling hoo-ha! at every turn. Charlie has what Slade attempted to achieve his whole life: integrity. As he says, Slade did stuff just to do stuff. Charlie does it because he means it. Chris O'Donnell, as Charlie Simms, is good. Albeit a bit understated. As I said before, Pacino is masterful. The actor who played the rich boy George is funny too.
When I first saw this, I thought the ending ruined it. It seems a bit trite and cliche ridden, but the final speech is good. Brilliant, in fact. Pacino's character comes to his own realizations and ultimately his climax in the speech. Brilliantly acted by Pacino, I may add. He takes several stupid lines in the speech and makes them forceful.
This is a good movie. Great really. It ranks on my top 10 of all time. Number 1 being Saving Private Ryan. If you want to see what Academy voters are swayed by, see Unforgiven. If you want to see a masterful movie that contains one of what I consider to be the best performance by an actor ever(the real best being Charles Sheen in Major League 2)see Scent of a Woman. The script does have its errors. The time duration is often unclear. Slade tells Charlie that his gun is not a gun, but a weapon or a piece. Seconds later, Charlie asks for it and Slade refers to it as his gun. Just little stuff like that are the reasons why the Academy didn't give it their vote. I don't care about that though. See it. Remember, the two best syllables in the world are....oh wait. I can't print that. If you've seen the movie, you get the joke.
At first I had a problem with Pacino's performance. I thought Al was definitely over-acting. He's playing a man who is consciously suicidal, a man suffering the loss of his dependence. He seems preoccupied in fulfilling a sexual desire but what he really yearns for is the acceptance of a woman now that he's been injured. However, even beyond his glorified apparition of woman what he presently needs is someone, anyone who will listen. He needs someone he can bark orders at like in the past. Some babe in the woods he can bemuse and corrupt amidst the decadence of `Freak Show Central', his personal nickname for New York City. In this contrived situation he finds life again and with these considerations Pacino's bravura performance is forgivable.
Pacino ironically switches energies with O'Donnell's character being the Colonel's high energy defuses Charlie's depressed low energy. The Colonel is psyched for his weekend's desperate romp, `A little tour of pleasures', he says. Given this distinction in performances, Charlie should have been the suicidal one, the defeated one because O'Donnell walks around this film like a deer caught in the headlights and there really isn't anything inspiring or motivating about him. It would have been an awesome acting exercise to have a young actor go against Pacino and realistically attempt to change his character's suicidal mission, granted his whole outlook on life yet what we have is a quick resolution that is very intense but not very intellectual.
In the end, this movie somehow manages to conduct all it's emotional payoffs thus rendering the viewer at the mercy of what may seem bathos. Many have criticized the film as negotiating Hollywood Plot A with Plot B or C. However, the Colonel realizes his biggest failure in life was in his interpersonal relationships. He learns that sometimes having friends can be a stronger and more important bond than family- a point well taken. Sometimes when a film comes together, after all the pre and post production, the result can be undeniably charming and this film manages to soar above its foundations, those manifested in the most basic of premises of melodrama. `Scent Of A Woman' does inevitably work and it's a very heart-warming film.
Did you know
- TriviaThe scene on the street where Lt. Colonel Slade falls over a garbage can was actually unplanned.
- GoofsThere appears a missing day in the timeline of the movie. Considering Frank and Charlie have Thanksgiving dinner on the actual day, the following day (Friday) is spent meeting Donna and spending the evening with the escort. The next day (Saturday) is spent driving the Ferrari and the climatic scene between Frank and Charlie. It's that evening that they're informed they missed their flight and drive up to New Hampshire, arriving moments before the meeting of the disciplinary committee on Monday morning, thus eliminating all of Sunday.
- Quotes
[Charlie refused to come clean with the names of the students responsible for the prank; Mr. Trask is furious]
Mr. Trask: [furious] I am left with no real witness. Mr. Willis's testimony is not only vague, it is unsubstantiated. The substance I was looking for, Mr. Simms, was to come from you.
Charlie Simms: [remorseful] I'm sorry.
Mr. Trask: I'm sorry too, Mr. Simms, because you know what I am going to do. In as much as I can't punish Mr. Havemeyer, Mr. Potter, or Mr. Jameson, and I won't punish Mr. Willis. He's the only party to this incident who is still worthy of calling himself a Baird man. I'm going to recommend to the disciplinary committee that you be expelled. Mr. Simms, you are a cover-up artist and you are a liar.
Lt. Col. Frank Slade: But not a snitch.
Mr. Trask: Excuse me?
Lt. Col. Frank Slade: No, I don't think I will.
Mr. Trask: Mr. Slade...
Lt. Col. Frank Slade: This is such a crock of SHIT.
Mr. Trask: Please watch your language, Mr. Slade. You are in the Baird School, not a barracks. Mr Simms, I will give you one last opportunity to speak up.
Lt. Col. Frank Slade: Mr. Simms doesn't want it. He desn't need to labeled, "Still worthy of being a Baird man". What the hell is that? What is your motto here? "Boys, inform on your classmates, save your hide. Anything short of that, we're gonna burn you at the stake"? Well, gentlemen, when the shit hits the fan, some guys run and some guys stay. Here's Charlie facing the fire and there's George hiding in Big Daddy's pocket. And what are you doing? You're gonna reward George and destroy Charlie.
Mr. Trask: Are you finished, Mr. Slade?
Lt. Col. Frank Slade: No, I'm just gettin' warmed up. I don't know who went to this place, William Howard Taft, William Jennings Bryan, William Tell, whoever. Their spirit is dead, if they ever had one. It's gone. You're building a rat ship here. A vessel for seagoing snitches, and if you think you're preparing these minnows for manhood, you better think again, because I say you are killing the very spirit this institution proclaims it instills. What a sham. What kind of a show you guys are putting on here today? I mean, the only class in this act is sitting next to me, and I'm here to tell ya this boy's soul is intact. It's non-negotiable. You know how I know? Someone here, and I'm not gonna say who, offered to buy it. Only Charlie here wasn't selling.
Mr. Trask: Sir, you're out of order.
[Trask hits the gavel; Col. Slade stands up angry]
Lt. Col. Frank Slade: Out of order. I'll show YOU "out of order"! You don't know what "out of order" is, Mr. Trask. I'd show you, but I'm too old, I'm too tired, I'm too fucking blind. If I were the man I was five years ago, I'd take a...
Lt. Col. Frank Slade: [slams his cane on the desk, screaming] FLAMETHROWER to this place! Out of order? Who the hell do ya think you're talking to? I've been around, ya know? There was a time I could see. And I have seen. Boys like these, younger than these. Their arms torn out, their legs ripped off. But there is nothing like the sight of an amputated spirit. There's no prostetic for that. You think you're merely sending this splendid foot solder back home to Oregon with tail between his legs, but I say you are executing his SOUL! And why? Because he's not a Baird man. Baird men. You hurt this boy, you're gonna be Baird bums, the lot of ya. And Harry, Jimmy, Trent, wherever you are, fuck you too!
[the student body and the committee are in shock as Trask's anger is further aggravated]
Mr. Trask: [yells; hits the gavel three times] Stand down, Mr. Slade!
Lt. Col. Frank Slade: I'm not finished! As I came in here, I heard those words, "Cradle of Leadership". Well, when the bough breaks, the cradle will fall. And it has fallen here. It has fallen. Makers of men, Creators of leaders. Be careful what kind of leaders you're producing here. I don't know if Charlie's silence here today is right or wrong. I'm not a judge or jury, but I can tell you this: He won't sell anybody out to buy his future! And that, my friends, is called integrity. That's called courage. Now that's the stuff leaders should be made of. Now I have come to the crossroads in my life. I always knew what the right path was. Without exception, I knew. But I never took it. You know why? It was too damn hard. Now here's Charlie. He's come to the crossroads. He has chosen a path. It's the right path. It's a path made of principle that leads to character. Let him continue on his journey. You hold this boy's future in your hands, committee. It's a valuable future. Believe me. Don't destroy it. Protect it. Embrace it. It's gonna make you proud one day, I promise you.
- Alternate versionsThe heavily edited network TV version was disowned by director Martin Brest, and credits "Allen Smithee" as director.
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- Perfume de mujer
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $31,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $63,095,253
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $357,468
- Dec 27, 1992
- Gross worldwide
- $134,095,253
- Runtime
- 2h 36m(156 min)
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1