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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Al Pacino was helped by a school for the blind in his preparation for this role. He said that he made himself appear blind by not allowing his eyes to focus on anything.

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Goofs

Halfway during the tango scene, in the background, the waiter on the left in front of the long table appears to sneeze.

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Quotes

Lt. Col. Frank Slade: Out of order, I show you out of order. You don't know what out of order is, Mr. Trask. I'd show you, but I'm too old, I'm too tired, I'm too fuckin' blind. If I were the man I was five years ago, I'd take a FLAMETHROWER to this place! Out of order? Who the hell do you think you're talkin' to? I've been around, you know? There was a time I could see. And I have seen. Boys like these, younger than these, their arms torn out, their legs ripped off. But there isn't nothin' like the sight of an ...

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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

Referenced in At the Movies: When a Man Loves a Woman/PCU/With Honors/No Escape/The Favor (1994)

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Soundtracks

Vida mia
Written by Osvaldo Fresedo and Emilio Fresedo
Performed by The Tango Project

User Reviews

It.s one of the most beautiful movies ever

I think this incredible movie leaves a legacy of life, it makes us appreciate life an also understand that a life can be lived in a minute just like Al Pacino says in one of this movie's most beautiful scenes, it also talks about values, integrity, and moral principles, by sides of this movie's wonderful script it's incredible cast makes it one of the most outstanding movies I have ever seen. The incredible scene of tango, the deep arguments about life between Al Pacino's character and Chris O'Donnell's, and also those scenes when Al Pacino's character senses women's scent and tells them the name of the perfume or the name of the soap it's really amazing, all of this with the sarcastic sense of humor of this movie, it's really great. I TRULY RECOMMEND TO SEE IT

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 January 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

Scent of a Woman

Filming Locations:

New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$31,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$357,468, 27 December 1992

Gross USA:

$63,095,253

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$134,095,253

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, City Light Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

156 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1