Scent of a Woman (1992)

Director:

Martin Brest

Writers (WGA):

Giovanni Arpino (novel)
Bo Goldman (screenplay)

Release Date:

23 December 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Col. Frank Slade has a very special plan for the weekend. It involves travel, women, good food, fine wine, the tango, chauffeured limousines and a loaded forty-five. And he's bringing Charlie along for the ride.

Plot:

A prep school student needing money agrees to "babysit" a blind man, but the job is not at all what he anticipated.

Plot Keywords:

Thanksgiving | Blind | Colonel | Headmaster | Prank

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 5 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Al Pacino	...	Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade
Chris O'Donnell	...	Charlie Simms
James Rebhorn	...	Mr. Trask
Gabrielle Anwar	...	Donna
Philip Seymour Hoffman	...	George Willis, Jr. (as Philip S. Hoffman)
Richard Venture	...	W.R. Slade
Bradley Whitford	...	Randy
Rochelle Oliver	...	Gretchen
Margaret Eginton	...	Gail
Tom Riis Farrell	...	Garry
Nicholas Sadler	...	Harry Havemeyer
Todd Louiso	...	Trent Potter
Matt Smith	...	Jimmy Jameson
Gene Canfield	...	Manny
Frances Conroy	...	Christine Downes

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

157 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Australia:M | Canada:18 (Ontario - 2006) | Iceland:L | Canada:G (Quebec) | Brazil:Livre | USA:R (certificate #32138) | Singapore:NC-16 (re-rating) | Singapore:PG (cut) | Finland:K-3 | New Zealand:PG | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Germany:12 | Peru:14 | South Korea:15 (video rating) (cut) | South Korea:18 (DVD rating) | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PG (Manitoba)

Filming Locations:

Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

City Light Films

Trivia:

Nearly all of the hotel scenes were shot at night to avoid disrupting hotel business.

Goofs:

Factual errors: While Slade is explaining to Charlie the proper way to perform the military salute, he says the right hand should be positioned "at the hairline." Doing this would result in a ridiculous-looking salute. The proper position for the hand is adjacent to or just above the right eye. Additionally, in a proper salute the arm is raised and lowered in a fluid motion. The right arm is never "snapped" to or from the right eye as the salute is rendered. Finally, the outside of right hand is always canted towards the individual receiving the salute, in accordance with Army custom. Slade does not cant his hand properly when he salutes Charlie.

Quotes:

Lt. Col. Frank Slade: Oh, where do I go from here, Charlie?
Charlie Simms: If you're tangled up, just tango on.
Lt. Col. Frank Slade: You askin' me to dance, Charlie?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude (2004) (VG)

Soundtrack:

Por una cabeza

Delicious high-class drama

I do not tend to go along with Hollywood-created cult figures, that kind of hero-worship, idol-making, whatever: you can have your Julia Roberts and such like making endless and mindless blockbuster hits with such insipid nonsense as `Pretty Woman', `Notting Hill' and so on, but it has to be something more serious like Joel Schumacher's `Dying Young' or even Steven Soderbergh's `Erin Brockovich' to convince me that Ms Roberts can/might be a good actress. The same goes for Al Pacino. Until the arrival of `Scent of a Woman' he was just merely another actor of those who come out of the Hollywood mass-manufacturing industry. `Scent of a Woman' changed all that: here Pacino shows he is a grand master, a brilliant actor. It is not important that this film is a redoing of an Italian original, or even whether this film won him an Oscar: the film stands up for its own merits, and Pacino reaches colossal heights in this well-directed drama, ably and willingly aided by a refreshing Chris O'Donnell. Very much a two-man film as the characterisation centres masterfully on these two leading characters, Pacino had to carry out a truly theatre-like interpretation of a blind retired colonel; Bo Goldman's dialogues are up to the challenge, creating some magnificent monologues which Pacino so superbly enacted.

My rating is somewhat higher than the surprisingly low IMDb user rating: a memorable and classic piece of serious cinema which puts Pacino into a very high category.