‹ All movies
Scent of a Woman poster

Scent of a Woman

year 1992decade 90sdirector Martin Brestgenre Drama

156 minutes

IMDb
Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Scent of a Woman | The Rewatchables

host Bill Simmonshost Chris Ryanproducer Craig Horlbeck format 250th Episode
Explore episodeClose episode

What’s Aged the Best?

The score, class dynamics, supporting performances, Oscar debate, career-changing roles, New York locations, and the hero’s heightened senses lead the discussion.

In the discussion (11)
Approx. transcript time · 00:22:30Read transcript
  • Thomas Newman's score is praised as an active character in the movie.
  • The prep-school conflict between inherited power and the scholarship student remains a sharp depiction of class and old-boy protection.
  • The running joke in which the colonel calls Jack Daniel's 'John Daniels' is explicitly offered as something that aged well.
  • James Rebhorn is praised as an elite supporting actor at playing polished men with sleazy interiors.
  • The boarding-school setting belongs to a strong run that also includes Dead Poets Society and School Ties.
  • Pacino's advice that a young actor should never marry an actress is recalled as a colorful set anecdote.
  • The movie sits at an early point when public arguments over Oscar winners became part of mainstream movie culture.
  • The performance helped establish the cynical idea that an actor could win awards by playing a disability or other conspicuous obstacle.
  • The coveted Charlie role is used as an example of the career-changing parts that many young actors once competed to win.
  • The Waldorf and Oak Room footage preserves an appealing pre-reservation-app vision of New York access and luxury.
  • The colonel's heightened smell and hearing are treated as entertaining superhuman powers attached to a disability.

Most Rewatchable Scene

The second half of the school hearing is the final choice, with Thanksgiving dinner and the tango among the strongest alternatives.

In the discussion (11)
Approx. transcript time · 00:25:34Read transcript
  • George's threatening walk with Charlie is praised for the strange physicality and for revealing an actor who immediately stands out.
  • George's ingratiating conversation with Mrs. Hunsacker is a smaller candidate that shows him as a skilled rich-kid manipulator.
  • The airplane conversation is selected for the colonel's loudly inappropriate advice while other passengers sit nearby.
  • The Oak Room arrival efficiently establishes the direction of the weekend and the conflict between the two leads.
  • The Thanksgiving dinner is praised as a great dysfunctional-holiday sequence built around rising tension, insults, and the horrified family.
  • The tango is praised for its lesson that mistakes can be folded into the dance and for the surprise it creates in the room.
  • The tango partner said Pacino skipped the rehearsals and that she was left with several half-broken toes.
  • The Ferrari sequence includes the dealership negotiation and the implausible but exciting blind drive.
  • Charlie's intervention during the suicide attempt is praised as an emotional toe-to-toe performance with Pacino.
  • The second half of the school hearing is the final choice because the speech and immediate verdict provide the dramatic apex.
  • The final teacher flirtation is a small closing candidate because the perfume-reading premise finally pays off.

The Butch’s Girlfriend Award for the Weakest Link in the Film

The extended ending and the lengthy Karen Rossi setup are the two proposed weak links.

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 00:48:15Read transcript
  • The movie is said to have reached its natural ending when the teacher flirts with the colonel, making the chauffeur and homecoming scenes unnecessary.
  • Karen Rossi's long pre-trip setup with children, the cat, and Thanksgiving plans is judged disposable.

What’s Aged the Worst?

The escort requests, dated first class, heavy drinking, and unexplained football background draw criticism.

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 00:50:07Read transcript
  • The colonel's repeated public requests for an escort would now attract scrutiny, though the behavior is defended as plausible for the pre-internet era.
  • The first-class airplane cabin looks cheap and ordinary by current standards.
  • The quantity of whiskey consumed during a short flight and across each day appears incompatible with the character remaining so controlled.
  • Charlie's sudden description as Baird's star halfback feels unsupported by everything else shown about him.
  • Frank Slade is described as a nightmare guest at holiday dinners.
  • The recurring Pacino impression is added to What's Aged the Worst because it repeatedly parodied this movie.

The Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award

The takes place the performance outside Pacino’s best eight and condemn Karen Rossi for leaving him with a teenager.

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 00:55:02Read transcript
  • The performance is placed outside Pacino's best eight and possibly outside his top ten because several earlier roles are more nuanced.
  • The counterpoint says the movie is valuable precisely because Pacino commits fully to the outsized character.
  • Karen Rossi is blamed for abandoning a vulnerable heavy drinker to a teenager during Thanksgiving.

The Ruffalo / Hanna / Rubinek / Partridge Overacting Award

The colonel’s shouting and Chris O’Donnell’s crying scene are the principal candidates.

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:01:02Read transcript
  • The colonel's enraged family confrontation, firing-range intensity, and repeated cries about being in the dark are offered as obvious overacting material.
  • O'Donnell's crying during the suicide intervention is another candidate.

The Joey Pants “That Guy” Award

Todd Louiso is one preferred answer; Nicholas Sadler, James Rebhorn, the colonel’s brother, and the chauffeur are alternatives.

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 01:01:45Read transcript
  • Ron Eldard is rejected by one participant because he had been a recognizable television lead.
  • James Rebhorn is proposed as the archetypal supporting answer.
  • The colonel's brother is a recognizable alternative whose actor name is not known by the panel.
  • The chauffeur Manny, explicitly identified as Gene Canfield, is another recognizable alternative.
  • Nicholas Sadler is chosen by one participant as the familiar ringleader student.
  • The third student is the other choice based on recognizable parts in Jerry McGuire, The Rock, Apollo 13, and High Fidelity.

The Dion Waiters Award for Best Heat Check Performance

Bradley Whitford wins one vote and the chauffeur wins another; Gabriel Anwar and the Ferrari salesman are alternatives.

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:02:52Read transcript
  • The chauffeur, Bradley Whitford, Gabriel Anwar, and the Ferrari salesman form the candidate list.
  • The chauffeur is selected for making a potentially thin role warm and additive through the final tip exchange.
  • Bradley Whitford is the other selection for his brief but sharp Thanksgiving performance.

Apex Mountain

Apex checks cover Pacino, O’Donnell, blind movie characters, the Ferrari, bad Thanksgivings, and the Ringer chokehold.

In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 01:07:09Read transcript
  • Pacino's apex is rejected, while the movie is accepted as Chris O'Donnell's apex.
  • James Rebhorn's apex is debated because his supporting roles occupy a consistently high level.
  • Scarface is preferred as the apex for Pacino movies featuring a character named Manny.
  • Blind movie characters are proposed as an apex because few alternatives come to mind.
  • The 1989 Ferrari Mondial T Cabriolet is declared an apex.
  • The Thanksgiving scene is placed among apex dysfunctional family holidays.
  • The Ringer chokehold is declared an apex.
  • Matthew McConaughey in A Time to Kill is chosen as the apex for 1990s hunk actors crying.
  • Philip Seymour Hoffman and prep-school or boarding-school movies are rejected as apexes for this film.
  • The Oak Room is considered a possible apex for the location itself.

Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake

A prestige television version is preferred because it could expand the school and family material.

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:14:19Read transcript
  • The core plot is judged small enough to fit into a television subplot despite working as a movie.
  • A series could spend more time with the prep-school students and the Thanksgiving family.

Is This Movie Better With…?

Wayne Jenkins as Mr. Trask is the selected addition.

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:15:09Read transcript
  • Wayne Jenkins is imagined delivering the headmaster’s threats and verdict scene.

The Coach Finstock Award for Best Life Lesson

Do not snitch and keep looking are the two lessons.

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:23:11Read transcript
  • Do not snitch or amputate your soul is the first lesson.
  • The day people stop looking is the day they die is the alternate lesson.

Who Won the Movie?

Al Pacino wins, with Philip Seymour Hoffman highlighted as a major beneficiary.

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:23:37Read transcript
  • Pacino is the immediate consensus winner.
  • Hoffman is placed high among the beneficiaries because the small role planted the seeds for his career.
Podcast choices
Speaker not identified
Al Pacino
Speaker not identified
Al Pacino
Speaker not identified
Al Pacino
Speaker not identified
Al Pacino
Speaker not identified
Al Pacino
Speaker not identified
Al Pacino
Speaker not identified
Al Pacino
Speaker not identified
Al Pacino

The Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award

Craig argues that Pacino is actively bad and that the performance plays like a parody of a blind role.

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:24:15Read transcript
  • The producer says he did not enjoy the movie and calls Pacino actively bad.
  • He says the performance feels like a parody of someone playing a blind role and blames Pacino for dialing it up too far.
  • He also says Chris O'Donnell is not very good and calls both central performances one-note.