The Scent of A Woman is a turgid, tedious and wholly predictable piece of formula hack work. Al Pacino gives a masterclass in overacting, while never for a second convincing as a blind man. His accent veers all over the southern United States, and he's in practically every scene in a movie that's easily 45 minutes longer than it should be. Worse, we're meant to believe that he can accurately guess an airline stewardess's name simply from her accent and her perfume. Please.
As for Chris O'Donnell, his character Charlie is so nauseatingly anemic, naive and goody- goody that you just want to slap him. Pacino shouts and barks incessantly and interjects 'Hoo-hah!' at the end of O'Donnell's lines throughout. Really, the sheer egotism on display here is staggering: Pacino clearly believes that not only is his obnoxious characterization credible, but that he's also witty, charming and ultimately lovable for his fierce pride, patriotism and independence.
The few attempts at humor are toe-curling in their ineptitude. At one point he tells O'Donnell to call room service and order 'a large John Daniels on the rocks'. When O'Donnell says, 'Don't you mean Jack Daniels?' Pacino responds, 'When you've known him as long as me, you call him John... That's a joke.' (Well Al, technically it's not, because a joke is a witty rejoinder that stands some chance of making you laugh.)
In fact, Pacino's overbearing, scenery-chewing cartoon character invokes nothing but irritation and revulsion. That he won a Best Actor Oscar for this role demeans every other Oscar winning actor in history. That's how goddamn awful this movie really is. A turd, there's no other word for it.
As for Chris O'Donnell, his character Charlie is so nauseatingly anemic, naive and goody- goody that you just want to slap him. Pacino shouts and barks incessantly and interjects 'Hoo-hah!' at the end of O'Donnell's lines throughout. Really, the sheer egotism on display here is staggering: Pacino clearly believes that not only is his obnoxious characterization credible, but that he's also witty, charming and ultimately lovable for his fierce pride, patriotism and independence.
The few attempts at humor are toe-curling in their ineptitude. At one point he tells O'Donnell to call room service and order 'a large John Daniels on the rocks'. When O'Donnell says, 'Don't you mean Jack Daniels?' Pacino responds, 'When you've known him as long as me, you call him John... That's a joke.' (Well Al, technically it's not, because a joke is a witty rejoinder that stands some chance of making you laugh.)
In fact, Pacino's overbearing, scenery-chewing cartoon character invokes nothing but irritation and revulsion. That he won a Best Actor Oscar for this role demeans every other Oscar winning actor in history. That's how goddamn awful this movie really is. A turd, there's no other word for it.