Rating: 
Summary: Pacino is absolutely at his best......
Review: An academy award was the least Pacino could have picked up for his role as a blind, blunt ex liutenant-colonel is this well directed movie. This movie brings a boquet of emotions as well as bringing out the inner child in anyone. This movie makes you wanna cry, laugh, and even learn to tango. I loved it and i gave it an excellent rating. My recommendation is if you are in the mood for a great movie...grab a bucket of popcorn and make this your movie for the night.
Rating:
Summary: By far my favorite movie
Review: When I first heard of this movie, I had no clue what it was about. My friend and I saw a teaser poster with Al Pacino and Gabrielle Anwar dancing the tango labeled "Scent of a Woman". Putting two and two together, we went into the theater thinking we were watching a love story until the movie started. Whoops. Despite my misgivings in the beginning, I was pleasantly surprised. What I found was a riveting story of mentor-mentee relationship. I love movies that involve the master taking young grasshopper under his wing. Except master is not Mr. Perfect himself. Both the student and the teacher learn from each other's weaknesses. And despite Lt Col Slade's struggle with his misfortunate blinding accident, his Army core values were still in tact. Hard-working and willing to give up a Thanksgiving weekend to look after an embittered retiree, Slade sees an underlying goodness in Chris O'Donnell's fragile, fence-sitting character, Charlie. Like most young men his age, he was susceptible to peer pressure and could easily choose the wrong path as his friends had. Slade is blind but easily sees the temptation to compromise the boy's integrity and future. "This old bat has sharper radar than the Nautilus" Slade tells his young league. He lays all the cards out for Charlie to see, but knew instinctively it was up to the boy to make his own decision. Charlie eventually shows his true colors in the face of adversity. Like a good soldier, he never leaves his commander's side even when the danger is self-inflicting. Character like that is a rarity in anyone and must be preserved! This prompts Slade to reciprocate his support for Charlie who is enrolled in a prestigious school reknowned for producing some of the most important figure heads in America. "Be careful what type of leaders you're making," he warns the school staff. Charlie learns lessons in life that no school could teach him.Underneath the tough exterior, there was a softer side to Slade. He definitely had a thing for the ladies. Instead of playing up a macho cassanova, "Mac-Daddy" persona predominate in a lot of films today, Slade is quite the charmer and gentlemen. He's cultured, sophisticated, genteel and surprisingly knowledgeable about women's perfume. Hence the film's title. I find that warrior-poet quality incredibly sexy and appealing. You can't resist a man who makes the tango look so easy and doesn't mind getting "all tangled up" with you. A beautiful role played by Pacino earning him a well-deserved oscar which probably was most credited for by his empowering monologue in the end. This is by far his best role in a movie. Lovely film. Sweet, sad, romantic yet uplifting. This is truly a classic for the ages.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Film - Thoughtful and Poignant
Review: Martin Brest's SCENT OF A WOMAN (1992) is a film well worth watching, and perhaps owning on video or DVD. Beyond the rather slow pace and the tough-talking of some of its characters, this tale is a thoughtful and incisive look at human behavior and how life experiences can shape it. It looks at how certain people handle adversity and what lessons they can ultimately derive from it. If this analysis makes SCENT OF A WOMAN sound boring, please forgive me, for it is anything but boring. This is a story about how real people react to real situations, and I'll be surprised if most people couldn't relate to at least one of the several major characters in it. The film's characters are, by the way, anything but boring; rather, they are memorable and true-to-life. Chris O'Donnell was very young (only 22) when he played Charlie Simms in this, only his third movie role and first starring one. You could say that he had his work cut out for him, as his co-star is living legend Al Pacino, as Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade. As you know by now, Charlie, a college student in hot water with the detestable Dean Trask (James Rebhorn, in another significant and well-played character role), gets himself assigned to the task of looking after the blind, bullying and seemingly unlikable Frank for Thanksgiving weekend. As I'm sure you also know, Frank is suicidal and is planning on doing himself in, but not before treating himself to last weekend of wine, women and song--and bringing Charlie along for the ride, whether he likes it or not! This story is about their weekend, and how each man is changed for the better, complete with a wonderful payoff at the end. When we first meet Frank Slade, we wonder if we can really spend a long time with him (this movie is 2 hours and 42 minutes long, although Frank is introduced about 20 minutes into it). But the way in which Charlie influences his character growth really holds our attention. Eventually, we come to care so much about Frank through the realization that he is not a one-dimensional monster but a damaged human being; one that is more in need of redemption than offing. SCENT OF A WOMAN is extremely well-acted by everyone. Al Pacino's memorable and infectious performance finally won him the Oscar for Best Actor that he had long deserved. Perhaps even more impressively, Chris O'Donnell (keep in mind that this was only his third film ever) provides an effective counterpart; both actors create believable and effective chemistry in their interaction. A very young Philip Seymour Hoffman is also memorable in a showy supporting role. This is one of those films in which if you've never seen it before, it will make you smile. Just don't be put off by its length; the characters and storyline will make you care enough to stick with it. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: There has already been 33 reviews written of this movie. What more do I hope to (or can I possibly)add? Well, I don't know, but here goes my two cents... This is one of my favorite movies of all time. Al Pacino at one of his very best moments. Playing a role unlike any other of his career. Chris O'Donnell at a perfect stage--before he his head became too big to fit through doorways (as the result of such travesties as Batman or The Bachelor). This is a very moving movie. One that never fails to endear itself further to me. I've seen it more times than I care to remember, but just yesterday, happened to catch it again on TNT. The channel surfing stopped there, and I watched what (little) remained. I wager you will love this movie as well. One can't help but love it as they watch an aging, blind Pacino come from despair to....well, I won't give away too much for those of you who haven't seen it. But, a few scenes to look for that are, by themselves, worthy of the price of this beauty: (a) the tango; (b) the test-drive; and (c) the speech. Hopefully that is cryptic and vague enough to not give anything away. However, those in the know, know very well what I speak/write of. Get it. Enjoy it a million times over.
Rating:
Summary: One of This Decade's Best Films
Review: I have probably watched "Scent of A Woman" thirty times. I find it one of those movies that becomes hypnotic a few minutes into it. Al Pacino is absolutely outstanding in the role of Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade, retired from the U.S. Army. Slade, blinded by a drinking/grenade game he was playing with one of his drinking buddies, is now living as an embittered alcoholic with an adult niece, her husband and two little children. He is an arrogant, angry man used to issuing orders and not displaying very much gratitude or affection. Charlie Simms, played well by Chris O'Donnell, is a scholarship at a nearby prep school in the same town in New Hampshire where Slade lives. Charlie's trying to earn some money over the Thanksgiving weekend so that he can travel home to his parents in Oregon at the Christmas break.He discovers an ad placed by Slade's niece to care for her blind uncle over the Thanksgiving break so that she can travel with her husband and kids to Albany, New York for Thanksgiving with her in-laws.Charlie answers the ad and the adventure quickly develops. Slade has his own plans for Thanksgiving. A last big blowout in New York City before killing himself. He is abusive to Charlie at first and acts as if he is one of his military aides. He doesn't let him in on his plans until it's practically time to leave for New York -- while Charlie had been told by Slade's niece that the weekend would be at her home looking after her uncle. A beautiful bonding begins as Slade and Simms interact and except for his anger and bitterness, it is obvious that Slade is not particularly handicapped by his blindness as he has developed an extra few "senses" which make him seem remarkable. The journey to New York is a roller coaster of emotion from comic to touching to almost tragic. When Slade finally decides to kill himself, Charlie manages to save the day -- although it's pretty touch and go keeping you on the edge of your seat throughout. Charlie has problems of his own. He's not particularly self confident and Slade is tremendously intimidating. Charlie's other problems center around an incident at school which places him at a crossroads -- whether he should rat on some kids at school at the headmaster's own brand of intimidation, or face expulsion. The movie concludes with an impassioned speech by Colonel Slade on Charlie' behalf before a school-wide assembly being held for a disciplinary committee hearing on the incident Charlie has knowledge of. Simms remains true to himself and proves himself to show new confidence and an outstanding sense of personal integrity. Slade has also benefited by his own plans gone awry and his opening a window of care for Charlie as another human being. He emerges as a sign of hope to overcome his bitterness, anger and alcoholism. An absolutely remarkable film!!!
Rating:
Summary: I'll Show you out of order!
Review: I absolutely love this movie. The first advertisement I saw for this movie was a poster of Al Pacino and Gabriel Anwar doing the tango. My firend I went into the movie theaters eagerly awaiting to see a lovely romantic comedy. But when the first scene started with a boys school and just kept going, we were beginning to wonder if we walked into the right movie. However, the movie was captivating as soon as Al Pacino came on screen, he obligates Chris O'Donnell to accompany him to the airport and head to New York. You keep wanting to see what happened next in the movie and before you know it, you've just fallen in love with a hopeless manic-depressive and a young kid whose promising future is about to go under because of a compromising situation that swing the wrong way. Where does loyalty start and integrity ends? Both Pacino and O'Donnell have to come to grips with in some fashion or another. But there is no doubt the bond between the two of them is unbreakable.
Rating:
Summary: Pacino Shines
Review: Scent of a Woman, a 1993 Academy Award Nominee for Best Picture, is about a friendship that builds between two opposite people, the blind retired Lt. Colonel Frank Slade and the prep school student Charlie Simms, during a wild weekend in New York City. Both are coming to a crossroads in their lives. Charlie has to decide whether he will tell on who played a practical joke on the school's headmaster. But his future is lying in midst of it. And Lt. Colonel Frank Slade, once an aide to Former President Lyndon Johnson, now blind, is considering taking his own life. Their friendship grows, and although I don't want to give too much away, I'll say that I was satisfied with the ending. Al Pacino's performance in this was stellar, and have many others have mentioned, won him his first Best Actor Oscar. Great film which will undoubtedly be enjoyed by many for years to come.
Rating:
Summary: PACINO GREATNESS SHOWS IN EVERY FRAME.
Review: This is Pacino hyperbole and you're loving every minute of it. Lt. Col. Frank Slade ranks with Michael Corleone and Tony Montana as Pacino's most memorable (fictional) screen characters (Frank Serpico is in a class all it's own). This is also an enduring story of friendship: The bonding between Pacino and Chris O'Donnel's Charlie Sims is heart warming, but never sappy. Bo Goldman again proves to be a genius with the pen. Great, great work. Wish I could have that suite at the Waldorf at the government rate.
Rating: 
Summary: Pacino's Takes on the University!
Review: Pacino plays a blind retired army colonel. During a school break, he is baby sat by one of the students. The student has a problem in that he is facing being expelled for a prank against a professor that he did not commit. Pacino is a very dynamic character and he takes the student to New York for a little fun. During the time in New York, the rough Pacino starts to become like a father to the student. Little by little you start to realize that the purpose of the visit is really for one last good time before Pacino does something drastic. Pacino gives one of his best performances in a long scene where he takes on the University's governers to defend the student.
Rating:
Summary: Pacino does it again !!!!!
Review: HOOOOOO WA!!! I'm the biggest Al Pacino fan and I own all his DVDs including this one. This film goes beyond his normal mobster/ cops roles and portrays him as a desperate lonely blind man at the end of his rope. Chris O' Donnell who I think was made famous by this film, helps Pacino discover the beauties of life. Watch this film and you will see how brilliant Pacino is. It will move you and inspire you a million times over. I watched this film 100s of times so many times i cant remember. Its so perfect. Watch it and be amazed. Hollywood finally finally after 20 some odd years and 7 Oscar nominations gave Pacino his well deserved Oscar for Best Actor in 1993. I think he should have won for The Godfather in 1972 but its all good. This film showed some of his greatest acting. AL PACINO IS THE GREATEST ACTOR IN THE WORLD!!!!!! BUY THIS MOVIE AND YOU WILL SEE WHAT I MEAN !!!
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