Scent of a Woman (1992)

Outline: A blue-collar student (Chris O'Donnell) at a New England prep school takes a Thanksgiving weekend job house-sitting a homebound vet (Al Pacino). As soon as his family's out the door, the vet takes the student on weekend trip to New York that he'll not soon forget.

I'm really confused by Martin Brest as a director. This film is glorious, but he went on to make some utter crap (i.e. Meet Joe Black and Gigli). He makes movies so sporadically that I feel he forgets how to do it in between. Trivia: this film is a remake of the Italian film Parfumo di donna.

Bo Goldman, quite obviously, then based his sceenplay on Giovanni Arpino's novel, and the character suggestions are credited to the Italian screenwriters. That's pretty much what he did with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and it is a formula that serves him well.

I don't even know what to tell you about Pacino in all his Academy Award winning glory. He started out as a such a restrained actor (see The Godfather if you don't believe me), then, about the time of Scarface, something just exploded in him. For whatever reason, that fire has yet to so much as dim. He blazes across the screen this time and, I feel I must mention, looks great in a tailored suit.

O'Donnell, much like my opinion of John Cusack in City Hall, has it pretty easy. He basically has to act like he's in awe/slightly afraid of Pacino, and I mean, c'mon, how hard could that be? This film was his fourth, and, if I was him, I would have fainted when I found out I got the part. Fainted.

Also, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, the chameleon, and Bradley Whitford are around for some stunning scenes.

Although I felt it was the teeniest bit too long, the film was well worth it to absorb every minute of Pacino's deeply nuanced performance. Oh, and Colin was right: that tango is killer.