Rent Scent of a Woman on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Giovanni Arpino (novel "Il Buio E Il Miele"), Bo Goldman (screenplay), Ruggero Maccari and Dino Risi (character from Profumo Di Donna, suggestion)
Directed by: Martin Brest
Starring: Al Pacino, Chris O'Donnell, James Rebhorn, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bradley Whitford
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
A prep school student needing money agrees to care for a blind man over Thanksgiving, but the job is not at all what he anticipated.
Verdict
It's a bit overly sentimental, a melancholy old man and a conflicted teen share an unforgettable experience on a road trip and create a bond. What elevates this is Al Pacino's performance. He does such a wonderful job, and his character creates tension in every scene as we wonder what he may do or say. He's unpredictable, blunt, and caustic. Despite being blind, he doesn't seem to miss a thing. He drops the walls he's built and both of them begin to care for each other.
Watch It.
Review
At a fancy prep school, the rich kids are planning a holiday for Thanksgiving. Charlie (Chris O'Donnell) is not one of those kids. He's looking for work over the break to afford a plane ticket home for Christmas. He answers an ad as an assistant to Frank (Al Pacino).
Frank is former military, aggressive and bracing; mad at the world. You have to imagine that part of it is pride. The power he had in the military is contrasted with his current condition; blind and stuck in the guest house. Frank's personal irritation has pervaded his life and turned off his family. Pacino is a force of nature in the role. That's easy to see quite quickly. Charlie gets the job, and Frank ropes him into a trip to New York. Charlie's apprehensive, but Frank isn't someone easily dissuaded.
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| Al Pacino, Chris O'Donnell play Frank, Charlie |
Frank reveals his Thanksgiving plans to Charlie. He plans to revisit all the pleasures of life; a nice room, food, wine, a woman, and family, before he concludes his life. Frank's unhappy with his life, and this can be his big send off before he concludes his life.
While Frank may be blind, you almost wouldn't know it. He has a near preternatural awareness of what's happening around him. He also doesn't like help, but Frank needs Charlie to execute this plan. While Frank is living it up, Charlie is preoccupied with what to do after witnessing classmates set up a prank for the headmaster. The headmaster offered Charlie a recommendation letter to Harvard. Does Charlie tell the truth or keep silent? If Charlie reveals the truth, he loses any chance at blending in. He's already set apart, being on a scholarship and not rich. His classmates are on this fancy vacation that Charlie couldn't even begin to afford. Frank tells him to reveal the truth. He's poor and they're rich. That isn't going to change, and by revealing the truth Charlie gains an advantage.
Frank visits his brother and manages to offend everyone there. Frank's unhappy and manages to make everyone around him unhappy. His nephew reveals how Frank lost his sight; arrogance and insubordination. Frank was a bit drunk, upset he never got that promotion, showing off, and it all caught up to him. Despite Frank's demeanor, Charlie has become attached and is concerned Frank will end his life since he's nearing the end of his list.
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| Al Pacino, Chris O'Donnell play Frank, Charlie |
Pacino does such a great job. In this movie, Frank even makes the tango interesting. He's dancing with this young woman, and we don't know what he'll do. Will he falter or make an offensive remark? Later Frank talks a salesman into a Ferrari test drive. Frank wants to drive, and Charlie is obviously concerned. It's a wild scene as Frank does indeed drive, even getting pulled over. He talks himself out of the ticket, and you can't help but like him at least in that moment. We understand why people don't. Frank can be insufferable.
Frank and Charlie make it back, and Frank even attends Charlie's hearing since his parents can't make it. When the headmaster railroads Charlie, Frank stops the proceeding and defends Charlie. Frank can make a speech. Frank and Charlie form a friendship, each providing the other with balance. That's nothing new, but it's Pacino's performance that makes this movie so much more than it could have been.
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