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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
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Roger Ebert's review

Roger Ebert’s stated score is three and a half stars.

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 00:22:06Read transcript
  • The stated score is three and a half stars.
  • The quoted review praises the intelligence and skill with which the movie reaches familiar coming-of-age and prep-school conclusions.

Picking Nits

The section questions the prank, heightened senses, empty streets, the Ferrari dealership, Baird discipline, and the dress-uniform suicide trope.

In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 00:35:19Read transcript
  • The blind Ferrari drive is called the movie's biggest nitpick and judged impossible even at low speed.
  • The active job-posting bulletin board used to arrange Charlie's holiday job is questioned.
  • The panel questions whether everyone at school would already know who committed the prank.
  • The colonel's ability to detect Charlie's movements makes his blindness seem inconsistently superpowered.
  • Donna's name is treated as a poor fit for the tango partner.
  • The Ferrari drive occurs across impossibly empty city streets without signals, pedestrians, or traffic.
  • The location of a Manhattan Ferrari dealership beside empty driving streets is questioned.
  • Baird's school-wide disciplinary hearing, blackmail tactics, and instant committee verdict seem implausible.
  • The dress-uniform suicide setup is criticized as a showy military-officer trope also used in A Few Good Men.
  • The prank depends on an improbably engineered milk balloon and the headmaster choosing to pop it while standing on his car.

Casting What-Ifs

Jack Nicholson, Sylvester Stallone, and Chris Rock are the major alternate-casting cases.

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 00:58:46Read transcript
  • Jack Nicholson reportedly declined the colonel, and his version is imagined as darker and more uncomfortable.
  • A claim that the Rocky star declined the role is treated skeptically.
  • Philip Seymour Hoffman reportedly auditioned five times for George before the role became his break.
  • The performance led Paul Thomas Anderson to write Scotty J. for Hoffman.
  • Chris Rock sought the Charlie role and later argued that casting a Black student would have made the movie more interesting.

Recasting Couch

Matt Damon is the preferred Charlie alternative over Leonardo DiCaprio and Ben Affleck.

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:04:12Read transcript
  • Leo is proposed as a higher-ceiling Charlie but may have been too electric and emotionally developed for the role.
  • Matt Damon is preferred over Leo, although he may seem too smart and carry too much baggage for Charlie.
  • Chris O'Donnell is defended because he plausibly looks like a scholarship student from Oregon.
  • Ben Affleck is considered, though Chris O'Donnell is judged better suited to this particular role.

Half-Assed Internet Research

Research covers locations, blindness and weapons preparation, the origin of “hoo-ah,” and a deleted hotel cameo.

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:05:55Read transcript
  • The Baird scenes were filmed at the Emma Willard School in New York.
  • Pacino prepared with a school for the blind and avoided focusing his eyes on objects.
  • A lieutenant colonel taught Pacino to load and unload the pistol.
  • Pacino reportedly adopted 'hoo-ah' after hearing a soldier use it while handling a rifle.
  • A Plaza Hotel scene with Trump and Marlon Maples was filmed and then removed.

Probably Unanswerable Questions

The questions focus on the ending, Charlie’s response to blackmail, the racial implications of recasting him, and the colonel’s finances.

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:15:53Read transcript
  • The movie is said to have a clear answer to whether it should end after the teacher flirtation: yes.
  • Charlie could have reported the headmaster’s blackmail to the disciplinary board.
  • Another proposed strategy is to admit seeing three students from far away without claiming to recognize them.
  • Casting Charlie as Black in 1992 is debated as more interesting but likely to make the colonel harder to redeem.
  • The panel asks how much of the colonel's savings the extravagant weekend consumed.