Scent of a Woman (1992)

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

Director:

Martin Brest

Writers:

Giovanni Arpino (novel), Bo Goldman (screenplay)

Stars:

Al Pacino, Chris O'Donnell, James Rebhorn

Won 1 Oscar. Another 5 wins & 14 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Al Pacino	...	Lt. Col. 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

Storyline

Frank is a retired Lt. Col. in the US Army. He's blind and impossible to get along with. Charlie is at school and is looking forward to going to university; to help pay for a trip home for Christmas, he agrees to look after Frank over Thanksgiving. Frank's niece says this will be easy money, but she didn't reckon on Frank spending his Thanksgiving in New York.

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Plot Keywords:

blind character | private school | tango | philogyny | loss of eyesight | 

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Taglines:

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.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 January 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

Perfume de mujer

Filming Locations:

New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$31,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$357,468, 23 December 1992, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$63,895,607

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$134,895,607

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, City Light Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

156 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The only Best Picture Oscar nominee not nominated in either of the support acting categories that year.

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Goofs

Slade's tie during the suicide scene repeatedly switches between disheveled and neatly tied.

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Quotes

Lt. Col. Frank Slade: Are you blind? Are you blind?
Charlie Simms: Of course not.
Lt. Col. Frank Slade: Then why do you keep grabbing my goddamn arm? I take your arm.
Charlie Simms: I'm sorry.
Lt. Col. Frank Slade: Don't be sorry. How would you know? You've been watching MTV all your life.

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Alternate Versions

The heavily edited network TV version was disowned by director Martin Brest, and credits "Allen Smithee" as director.

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Connections

Featured in Hollywood's Top Ten: Thanksgiving Scenes (2011)

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Soundtracks

El Relicario
Written by José Padilla
Performed by The Tango Project

User Reviews

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.