Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 9, 1993 TAG: 9301090244
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRIS GLADDEN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
`SCENT OF A WOMAN' SMELLS LIKE A WINNER
In "Scent of a Woman," Lt. Col. Frank Slade is designing his customized version of "The Last Detail."Col. Slade is a retired Army officer, once on the fast track to the top - an aide to Lyndon Johnson, a war hero, a man who has lived well but not wisely.
His stubbornness, alcoholism and recklessness combined to sabotage his career and then to leave him blind from an accident. Slade lives with the family of a relative he dismisses as ordinary. He's embittered, self-destructive, arrogant and elitist. He's also a womanizing hedonist who wants one pleasure-packed spree before he blows his brains out.
Is this a guy we can like? Yes, as portrayed by Al Pacino who makes the bumptious and theatrical Col. Slade a bigger-than-life character. Pacino, who uses a kind of Southern-fried W.C. Fields accent, does not come across as a realistic person but as an immensely entertaining literary creation. He leaves the impression he's been where few mortals ever go, whether it's the heights of combat heroism, the corridors of power or the most exclusive pleasure palaces on the globe.
That's not to diminish either the movie or Pacino's performance. His world-weariness, his sense of humor and his reservoirs of acting skill completely engage us even if they don't exactly make us forget that this is Al Pacino.
"Scent of a Woman" has moments of over-inflated emotionalism and is not always convincing, but it's consistently entertaining. The story is not just about Slade but about the young man who leads the cynical colonel to a redemptive turn-around so abrupt that it may have given Dickens reservations.
The reluctant sidekick on Slade's expedition to New York is a young prep school scholarship student who has problems of his own. Charlie Simms not only has to take a job looking after Slade for the weekend in order to earn money to fly home to Oregon for Christmas, he has to deal with a serious school problem. He faces expulsion if he doesn't rat out a couple of classmates over a prank.
While Pacino gives a grandstanding performance, Chris O'Donnell delivers one that is more restrained but no less admirable. The Colonel at first dislikes him, an honor he bestows on all humans. But he begins to sense Charlie's integrity.
Scent of a Woman: ***1/2
"Scent of a Woman" may be formula movie-making. But screenwriter Bo Goldman gives the characters funny and crisp dialogue. And director Martin Brest, who turned out "Midnight Run," another odyssey of mismatched buddies, gives the movie a polished sheen. A Universal picture at Valley View Mall 6 (262-8219). Rated R for language; 149 min.