Scent of a Woman
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
- Genre:Comedy / Drama
- Runtime:157 minutes
Cast
Al Pacino : Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade
Chris O’Donnell : Charlie Simms
James Rebhorn : Mr. Trask
Gabrielle Anwar : Donna
Philip Seymour Hoffman : George Willis, Jr. (as Philip S. Hoffman)
Charlie Simms (Chris O’Donnell) is a student at a private preparatory school, though is one of few students there from a modest background, attending on scholarship. To pay for his flight home to Gresham, Oregon for Christmas, Charlie takes a job over Thanksgiving looking after a cantankerous, irascible retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel named Frank Slade (Al Pacino), who is now blind and prone to alcoholism.
It is revealed early on that Charlie, along with a friend George Willis, Jr. (Philip Seymour Hoffman) were witness to a notorious act of vandalism at the school, and are being pressured by the school’s headmaster Trask (James Rebhorn) to divulge the names of the perpetrators, which they both know. When Charlie refuses to talk, Trask offers a bribe: a letter of recommendation that would virtually guarantee his acceptance to Harvard. Charlie says nothing.
Slade unexpectedly whisks Charlie off to New York City. Slade has a room reserved at the Waldorf-Astoria. During dinner at the Oak Room (at the Plaza Hotel), he reveals the purpose for the trip: to eat at an expensive restaurant, stay at a luxury hotel, visit his big brother, make love to a beautiful woman, and then “blow his brains out.” Charlie is taken aback, not knowing how seriously to take Slade’s suicidal intentions.
They travel to the Colonel’s older brother’s home in White Plains for Thanksgiving dinner without informing the brother they were coming, a clearly unpleasant surprise for the family. Charlie learns from Slade’s rude nephew, Randy, how Slade lost his sight – by foolishly juggling hand grenades while drunk. Slade’s crude behavior at dinner further alienates his brother and other relatives. Infuriated at Randy for calling Charlie, “Chuckie,” Slade physically attacks Randy by threatening to crush his trachea and needs to be pulled away by his family. The night ends in acrimony.
In a car ride, Charlie tells Slade about his complications at school. Slade advises Charlie to inform on his classmates and go to Harvard, warning him that Willis will probably be pressured into not maintaining silence. Read more
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