Al Pacino plays Charlie Simms, a retired military officer who lost his eyesight and spends his days drinking and waiting for death. Chris O’Donnell plays Charlie Hall, a young college student who happens upon him during a family trip and agrees to help him get to Denver for a wedding. What follows is a road trip where Charlie forces Hall to drive him across country, drink, fight and chase women, all while Hall tries to hold onto his own sense of right and wrong.
Trailer, via Screen Bites.
The Setup
The film opens with Charlie drunk, bitter and angry at the world. He wants to die with dignity, and he believes the trip to Denver will give him that. Hall is dragged along, unwilling at first but gradually pulled into the adventure. The setup is simple: one man who wants to die, one man who doesn’t want to be there. That tension drives the whole story.
Pacino’s Performance
Pacino’s performance is the reason anyone watches this film. He is cruel, funny, tender and terrifying within the same scene. His reading of lines about Hall’s future is genuinely moving, and his scenes with Marthe Keller, playing a blind piano teacher, are the emotional center of the picture. Pacino carries the film from start to finish.
The Flaws
The problem is the film around him. The script leans on heavy-handed dialogue and a moral lesson that feels forced. Characters speak in speeches rather than conversation, and the plot often stalls to let Charlie lecture Hall about life. The chase scenes and confrontations are meant to build tension but mostly feel like filler between Pacino’s moments.
Chris O’Donnell’s Hall is a nice boy who never quite comes alive. He is passive through most of the film, reacting to Charlie rather than driving the action. The romance with Marthe Keller’s character is thin and rushed, and her presence is underused compared to the material she could have given the film.
Comparing the Two Leads
| Character | Actor | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Charlie Simms | Al Pacino | Retired military officer |
| Charlie Hall | Chris O’Donnell | College student |
Pacino is the engine and the engine room at once. O’Donnell is the car that gets driven. Neither role is written to challenge them, and the film suffers for it.
Where It Lands
“Scent of a Woman” is a film of two halves. One half is Pacino giving one of his great performances, and that half is essential viewing. The other half is a tired, talky road movie that repeats itself without earning its runtime. The two halves never fully meet.
The film’s score sits at 5.7 out of 10, and that number feels about right. It is a flawed classic, not a perfect one. Pacino’s work alone earns a much higher mark, but the surrounding material holds him back.
The best way to watch this film is to skip the middle and focus on Pacino. Everything else is filler.
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