The first time I watched Scent of a Woman, I was alone in my room and it was nearing around midnight. I had borrowed the DVD from the local library and had very low expectations for it and knew little of the film's plot other than what the DVD box had offered. I was still wide-awake so I popped the DVD into the player just to get some entertainment. Scent of a Woman would then become one of my personal favorites. For the next 2hrs and 37min I will be pleasantly surprised by this dramatic but also lightly comedic film that I felt sad when it ended.
Al Pacino, who is one of the prolific actors of his time breaks out of his usual gangster persona to play Lt. Col. Frank Slade, a blind man who meets his complete opposite and most unlikely friend. Prep school student Charlie Simms (a pre-Robin Chris O'Donnell), desperate for a job during the Thanksgiving weekends so he can earn enough money to spend Christmas back at his home in Oregon, is hired to "babysit" Frank while the family goes on a trip that Frank refused to go along with. Little did Charlie know, Frank already has already purchased tickets to New York where he will eventually enjoy himself with expensive restaurants, big hotels, and a beautiful woman. At the end of his trip, he plans to commit suicide because he simply cannot tolerate his blindness anymore.
There is a subplot involving Charlie's fiasco at his prep school. After witnessing a prank on the school headmaster's beloved car, Charlie is asked to spill the names of the members behind the prank in order to be bribed for a chance to enter Harvard University, or find himself in great trouble. The other student who also witnessed the prank is a rich-snob-type, George (a pre-Capote Philip Seymour Hoffman), who may have been behind the prank as well. We can think Charlie is ridiculously naive, but Frank takes note of Charlie's integrity and admires him for it, and for some reason, we should too. The subplot is a bit silly if you really think about it, but then again, without this subplot, one of the best speeches I have ever seen in film will never exist -- and that is the speech that earned Pacino his first Oscar, twenty years and seven nominations later.
What is so great about Pacino's performance is not just because he plays a blind man, but he makes a very unlikable character into an object of sympathy. We hate him because we can't stand him, but we like him because he respects Charlie's integrity like no one else does. In a way, Pacino IS the film because without his performance, this film wouldn't have the same greatness. And even the "Hoo-ah!" would sound different if it was performed by another actor -- and we won't want that to happen! Another strong point is that Pacino never makes O'Donnell into his walking shadow and this gives a chance for his co-star to shine as well. Maybe O'Donnell didn't deliver a performance as heartbreaking and wonderful as Pacino, but the two actors were able to produce perfect chemistry and their absurd friendship seemed truly believable.
There is a scene in this movie where Frank visits his family. We watch as everyone in the house looks at him with their unwelcoming eyes. Frank can sense it, but he tries to make the best of it since he still has his planned suicide in mind. He tries to have a Thanksgiving meal with his family, only to fall into an argument with his nephew (Bradley Whitford). That was the moment that I really sympathized Frank because it felt like he was someone who had finally come to terms with his blindness but regrets his past, but he isn't ready to be nice about it.
Even with its long runtime, the film manages to be very entertaining as the audience watches Frank dancing the tango with a young woman (Gabrielle Anwar, in one of the film's most memorable moments) to Frank driving the Ferrari at full-speed. Even in the most dramatic moments, I didn't find one boring second to this film. As Frank shouts to Charlie, "I'm in the dark, here!" I felt a strong chill going through me as if I finally understood Frank.
After seeing this film, you would be surprised that this film was directed by Martin Brest, the same guy who gave us -- you guessed it -- Gigli. He does such a superb job in this film even when the script (written by Bo Goldman, who adapted the 1974 Italian film, Profumo di donna) is attached with the standard Hollywood formula. What lead the audience overlook the formula was the marvelous character-driven plot and the lively, humorous, and quotable dialogue. The film is about friendship between two very different people who were able to help each other in their time of need. Scent of a Woman also contains one of the best feel-good endings ever (maybe because it actually felt good) as both men discovers a new purpose to life and a new will to live.
Al Pacino, who is one of the prolific actors of his time breaks out of his usual gangster persona to play Lt. Col. Frank Slade, a blind man who meets his complete opposite and most unlikely friend. Prep school student Charlie Simms (a pre-Robin Chris O'Donnell), desperate for a job during the Thanksgiving weekends so he can earn enough money to spend Christmas back at his home in Oregon, is hired to "babysit" Frank while the family goes on a trip that Frank refused to go along with. Little did Charlie know, Frank already has already purchased tickets to New York where he will eventually enjoy himself with expensive restaurants, big hotels, and a beautiful woman. At the end of his trip, he plans to commit suicide because he simply cannot tolerate his blindness anymore.
There is a subplot involving Charlie's fiasco at his prep school. After witnessing a prank on the school headmaster's beloved car, Charlie is asked to spill the names of the members behind the prank in order to be bribed for a chance to enter Harvard University, or find himself in great trouble. The other student who also witnessed the prank is a rich-snob-type, George (a pre-Capote Philip Seymour Hoffman), who may have been behind the prank as well. We can think Charlie is ridiculously naive, but Frank takes note of Charlie's integrity and admires him for it, and for some reason, we should too. The subplot is a bit silly if you really think about it, but then again, without this subplot, one of the best speeches I have ever seen in film will never exist -- and that is the speech that earned Pacino his first Oscar, twenty years and seven nominations later.
What is so great about Pacino's performance is not just because he plays a blind man, but he makes a very unlikable character into an object of sympathy. We hate him because we can't stand him, but we like him because he respects Charlie's integrity like no one else does. In a way, Pacino IS the film because without his performance, this film wouldn't have the same greatness. And even the "Hoo-ah!" would sound different if it was performed by another actor -- and we won't want that to happen! Another strong point is that Pacino never makes O'Donnell into his walking shadow and this gives a chance for his co-star to shine as well. Maybe O'Donnell didn't deliver a performance as heartbreaking and wonderful as Pacino, but the two actors were able to produce perfect chemistry and their absurd friendship seemed truly believable.
There is a scene in this movie where Frank visits his family. We watch as everyone in the house looks at him with their unwelcoming eyes. Frank can sense it, but he tries to make the best of it since he still has his planned suicide in mind. He tries to have a Thanksgiving meal with his family, only to fall into an argument with his nephew (Bradley Whitford). That was the moment that I really sympathized Frank because it felt like he was someone who had finally come to terms with his blindness but regrets his past, but he isn't ready to be nice about it.
Even with its long runtime, the film manages to be very entertaining as the audience watches Frank dancing the tango with a young woman (Gabrielle Anwar, in one of the film's most memorable moments) to Frank driving the Ferrari at full-speed. Even in the most dramatic moments, I didn't find one boring second to this film. As Frank shouts to Charlie, "I'm in the dark, here!" I felt a strong chill going through me as if I finally understood Frank.
After seeing this film, you would be surprised that this film was directed by Martin Brest, the same guy who gave us -- you guessed it -- Gigli. He does such a superb job in this film even when the script (written by Bo Goldman, who adapted the 1974 Italian film, Profumo di donna) is attached with the standard Hollywood formula. What lead the audience overlook the formula was the marvelous character-driven plot and the lively, humorous, and quotable dialogue. The film is about friendship between two very different people who were able to help each other in their time of need. Scent of a Woman also contains one of the best feel-good endings ever (maybe because it actually felt good) as both men discovers a new purpose to life and a new will to live.
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