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| Scent of a Woman |
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 (10/10)
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Runtime: 157 |
| Public Rating: 9.67 (33 votes) |
Director: Martin Brest |
MPAA Rating:  |
| Genre: Drama |
Year: 1992 |
| Writer(s): Giovanni Arpino (novel), Bo Goldman |
| Distributor: Universal |
| Reviewed by: Arturo Garcia Lasca |
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Wherever you see talk about Oscars, who should've won, who should've have, or who won for the wrong performance, you'll always find a bunch of people complaining because Pacino won for the wrong film. People are right when they say Al Pacino was awesome in The Godfather Part I and II, and to some extent, they're also right when they say the Oscars like to give the award to someone who plays a mentally (or physically) incapacitated character. Well, this might or might not be the case according to many, but to me, Pacino gave an amazing performance.
Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade (Al Pacino) is blind. He lives with his sister and her family, although a bit far from all the house activity, and isolated from the rest of the world. His sister's family is going away for the weekend, and to take care of Mr. Slade, they hire a young student, Charlie Simms (Chris O'Donnell). Charlie is on a scholarship studying at Baird school, and he had the weekend off. While his -rich- friends will go away skiing and doing all sorts of stuff, he'll work for some extra cash. What Charlie never imagined is that he'd meet such a unique person as Colonel Slade.
For a film that's 157 minutes long, you might think that's not much to say when talking about it's plot, but frankly, it's better if you see the rest of the subplots for yourself.
Pacino and O'Donnell are very good together, great chemestry. If it's not the first, it's the latter that's on screen, but I don't think there's a single scene without one of them. The supporting cast was also pretty good, but I don't think it would have mattered a lot if it was just average.
As the film goes by, you really start to feel for the characters, and some strong dialogues makes the performances really get to the audience. Maybe Pacino has been better in other films, but acting blind the way he did and being so convincing is just unbelievable, not to mention that last speech that makes you want to watch the film again whenever you get the chance; I think it's definitely one of his best.
There's not really much more to say about the film, it's a bit long and most of it is just dialogue, good one fortunately. The story is quite interesting and moving, and having directed films like "Beverly Hills Cop" before this, Martin Brest showed people he could do other kind of flicks. Scent of a Woman is a good one, specially if you like Pacino yelling and talking like a smart fellow. Don't miss it.
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