Scent of a Woman (1992)

IMDb plot summary: A prep school student needing money agrees to "babysit" a blind man, but the job is not at all what he anticipated.

Directed by Martin Brest. Starring Al Pacino, Chris O'Donnell, and James Rebohnr.

Scent of a Woman stars Al Pacino as a gruff retired military man who has lost his eyesight, and Chris O'Donnell as the young prep school student hired to keep an eye out for him while Pacino's family is on vacation. But as soon as the family leaves, Pacino is off on an adventure to New York City, where he intends to enjoy all his favorite things in life, before taking his own. This movie jumped back and forth for me between being really effective and being really cheesy. O'Donnell makes a likable protagonist, and Pacino is certainly giving it his all, but he's most compelling here when he's at his quietest, and that's not very often. I get that his character's obnoxious loud bluster is in fact an essential part of the character, but I find it very unpleasant to watch. The last third works best for me, if feeling a little unearned. I get why people loved this, but I could never latch on to the character or its portrayal enough to be fully sold on it.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Scent of a Woman > Jesus Christ Superstar (2000)

Scent of a Woman < Dark Passage

Scent of a Woman > Incendies

Scent of a Woman < Show Me Love

Scent of a Woman < Spellbound (2002)

Scent of a Woman > Panic Room

Scent of a Woman > The Intouchables

Scent of a Woman < The Circus

Scent of a Woman < Good Time

Scent of a Woman < Possession

Scent of a Woman > The Cloverfield Paradox

Scent of a Woman > The Meg

Final spot: #1294 out of 3692, or 65%.