Al Pacino's performance was by far the highlight of this film. He played a blind man impressively and convincingly. The charisma he brought to the role made the movie worth watching. I liked the overall idea behind the story, but the plot itself left much to be desired. I felt the movie was way too long at 2 1/2 hours. It really dragged especially toward the end. Also, in my opinion it lacked sufficient character development particular with "Charley" (O'Donnell). I did not have a good sense of who he really was, what he was about, and why I should even care anyway. His character had very little depth and no personality save for a shy, timid student who is intimidated by the Colonel (Pacino). I did not see how their characters really complimented one another even with the well-written monologues delivered by Pacino. And Charley's storyline seemed dull and his plight insignificant. He witnesses a prank on the headmaster by some classmates and is conflicted on whether or not he should blab - so what?
All in all, I felt "Scent of a Woman" was rather overrated but Al Pacino fans should definitely check it out because he definitely delivered an Oscar-worthy performance in my opinion. Besides that, you're not missing much.
Review of Scent of a Woman
