Inspired by Profumo di Donna (1974), the original Italian film, Scent of a Woman is all Al Pacino, all the time, and you’d have to be blind not to see it. Pacino plays the blind (and bitter) former Vietnam army officer Frank Slade, who has a misguided teenager with a heart of gold named Charlie Simms (Chris O’Donnell, who never received the praise he deserved) look after him. Slade plans a final weekend before ending it all — one can view his trip to New York as kicking the bucket list — and thus we’re treated to the Pacino playbook at its finest: the dancing of a mean tango, the barking of orders (“Just call me Frank. Call me Mr. Slade. Call me … Colonel, if you must. Just don’t call me ‘Sir.’ “), the charming of the fairer sex and that catchphrase (“Wooh-ha!”). It was a calling card good enough to win him that elusive Oscar.
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