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

Two choreographers, Jerry Mitchell and Paul Pellicoro, guided the dance scene between Donna and Col. Slade.

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Goofs

During the tango scene, Donna's earrings can be seen in one shot and in the next scene, they're gone. Then, at the end, the earrings return.

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Quotes

[Headmaster Trask drives into the Baird School driveway in his brand-new Jaguar. He gets out, to hear a voice on a loudspeaker]
Jimmy Jameson: [on loudspeaker, but unidentified] Mister Trask is our fearless leader.
[students hear this and gather, looking on at Trask]
Jimmy Jameson: A man of learning, a voracious reader. He can recite "The Iliad" in ancient Greek, while fishing for trout in a rippling creek.
Trent Potter: [Trask grins slightly, trying to figure out where the voice is coming from] Endowed with wisdom, of judgement sound, ...
[...]

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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

Spoofed in Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude (2004)

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Soundtracks

Caminito
Music by Juan de Dios Filiberto
Lyrics by Gabino Coria Peñaloza (uncredited)
Performed by The Tango Project

User Reviews

A beautiful film

Truly amazing acting by Al Pacino and a long overdue Oscar finally received. Also, O'Donell had a very fine performance. It is incredibly hard to act like Al did, specifically given his condition, but he did a master work in my opinion. Truly recommended for everyone. A masterpiece. Kudos to the director as well. And some scenes, like the dancing are just amazing. The passport to heaven, he says. Isn't that a wonderful statement? I wish there were more films like this made. And a great comeback for Al. If he had to come back from anything, that is. Movies like this are pure inspiration. To fight. And never give up. And thats what Al did. He never gave up.