Lets feel good about ourselves today

There are very few movies that you would want to watch over and over again on a deserted island, but for me, I think this is the movie I would hope to bring with me. Scent of a Woman comes off as clichéd and corny, but this is probably the absolute most entertaining and likable film I have ever seen ever in my life. I disagree with all those people who found it too long or too boring because I was entertained all along – even when I was checking the time.

The first scene of this film is of a prep school for boys. We are introduced to Charlie, who is looking for a job over the Thanksgiving break. His friends are spoiled and privileged almost toying with Charlie with their wonderful Thanksgiving plans. Charlie finds a job to babysit a blind man, Lt. Col. Frank Slade for the weekends when Frank’s niece and her family goes on a Thanksgiving vacation. Frank is impossible to cope with, hard to get along with – but Charlie does not care because he needs a job to go home for Christmas.

Unfortunately, Charlie finds himself in an unlikely dilemma, being a witness of a school prank. The school headmaster bribes him with the prize of going to Harvard University. Charlie, being the naïve kid he is, finds himself in a dilemma to tell or not to tell.

On Charlie’s first day on his job, Frank already has plans for the weekends. Frank already bought two tickets to New York and plans for a wild tour of the Big Apple with his savings from his disability checks. He takes the reluctant Charlie with him. We find out Frank is more than the alcoholic he is – he happens to loves women, Ferraris, and can tango quite well.

What Charlie does not know about Frank is that he has come to New York to “blow his brain out.” In a great scene in the film is where Charlie and Frank visit Frank’s brother. He is met by unwelcoming eyes and involves himself a heated argument with his nephew who disapproves of Frank, or in other words, hate him. At that point, where we see Frank is unhappily greeted by family members who loathe him, we start feeling sorry for this guy because he must of regretted a lot of things he has done when he could actually see. We slowly gain sympathy for his character and wish that he would give himself another chance and not kill himself after all.

Scent of a Woman has is a lighthearted drama with touches of comedy. In all honesty, the plot is quite vague and is more a character-driven film. There are two climaxes to the film suited for the two characters. The first climax involves Frank’s scenario of suicide. The second climax involves Charlie’s scenario at the prep school court and he is still juggling if he should tell or not to tell.

This is the film that won Al Pacino his Oscar after his first Oscar nomination twenty years ago. Among those snobby film audiences, there are many of those disagreeing if he should of have received the Oscar or not for this particular film. Other than he is playing a blind man, his character is actually quite simple: He shouts a lot because he’s blind. He drinks a lot because he’s blind. He wants to kill himself because he’s blind. The amazing thing is that we actually believe all that. I think this is my favorite Pacino performance if not his best.

Another great thing about his performance is that even though this is his one-man show, he does not place Chris O’Donnell in a shadow. Even though Charlie can pass as ridiculous naïve at times, he is a likable character. A movie can be as great as it wants to be, but there is no movie when you don’t have a good character.

Scent of a Woman is extremely predictable – even to the very end where everything ends happily. The film shows that a film can be good and entertaining even when the ending is unrealistic. The Hollywood ending is no longer what it seemed to be, but this seems to preserve the old-fashioned idea of a true Hollywood ending. I watch movies to escape, and this is the movie I would wish to escape with.