Review of Scent of a Woman (1992) by Chad D — 15 Jul 2012

Martin Brest, not to be mistaken for Martin Short, because Martin Brest films like this are anything but short. Yeah, that was cheesy, but hey, at least it was short and to the point, which is more than you can say about this film, and definately more than you can say about "Meet Joe Black", though after "Gigli", I think that it's official that Martin Brest probably shouldn't be doing short and cheesy films anymore. Well, "Gigli" was two hours, so it wasn't really all that short, and I'd imagine that it wouldn't be much better if it was thirty minutes or an hour longer, so maybe Brest should just cut back on the cheesiness, like he did with this film. Yes people, not even I can believe that this Martin Brest-directed drama about Robin getting into shenanigans with a blind, alcoholic and suicidal aging war vet (Jeez, I wonder how Al Pacino got that Oscar), played by Scarface, didn't really get all that cheesy, which is especially impressive when you consider that this film is almost 160 minutes long, and as the final half-hour or so of "Meet Joe Black" taught us, if a Martin Brest film goes on just long enough, then things are gonna corn up real fast. Thankfully, excluding the credits, this film shaves off that half-hour that cheesed up "Joe Black" something fierce, though it was still has the problem of being too long to be entirely reasonable in its length. Boy, the Italians sure loved their long dramas in the '70s, and even Dino Risi had to cut the preceding adaptation of "Il Buio e Il Miele" off at just over 100 minutes, so I don't know exactly where Brest got the idea to make this remake a couple of wide shots away from becoming an epic, but hey, he made the three-hour-long "Meet Joe Black"... kind of work... I guess. Well, at least this film is tighter than "Joe Black", and is certainly a better film because of it, yet still don't go in expecting this lengthy watch to not be all that bumpy.

In all seriousness, a film of this type certainly warrants depth, and a reasonably lengthy runtime to help in providing that, but a runtime of 157 minutes seems fairly unreasonable, and sure enough, the execution isn't much more resonable, as the film finds itself dragged to the ends of the earth, going excessively bloated from harshly jammed in material, some of which is all but entirely inorganic in its incorporation. Still, the padding is not simply accomplished through the incorporation of expendable material, but also the excessive looseness of material, even some of the most worthy material, with somewhat overextended periods of nothingness slowing down the film to the point of being momentarily disengaging, while a fair couple of dialogue pieces range from a bit too lengthy to grossly overdrawn to an unbelievable extent. As if that's not enough for you, the steam of the film takes yet another brutal blow from there simply a kind of consistent dryness. Sure, this dryness doesn't necessarily bring the film down to a state of boring, yet it still really strikes at the oomph and resonance of a film that can't afford to have such dilution of resonance. Indeed, with all of these storytelling flaws coming together, and topped off with occasional moderate sentimentality, the final product is rendered not as dramatically effective as it really should be. Don't get me wrong, the impact of the film isn't bled dry, but with the film being so excessive and dry, what we're ultimately left with is a film that doesn't always hold your attention, let alone total investment. What we're left with is an improvable film that, from the sounds of it, would merely dangle just above underwhelming if it is genuinely good, yet, in actuality, is quite a ways away from underwhelming, for although it's still no knockout, and certainly not as sharp as it should be, it delivers quite a bit more than it misses, even to those who, unlike Pacino's character, can see.

Now, Donald E. Thorin's cinematography may hardly be a consistent breathtaker, yet it hits its magic moments that really do stun you, while keeping consistent in a kind of color bounce that really pronounces certain locations and environment aspects in an eye-catching fashion that borders on immersive. Of course, while the film definately catches your eyes in some spots, it alone can't catch your attention, and with all of the storytelling faults, don't expect to run away from disengagement forever, yet you can possibly expect to find yourself running back fairly easy, as the story is indeed a strong one, and while the excessiveness of the film gives you perhaps too much depth, the fact of the matter is that this film does manage to absorb a lot of depth out of this undeniably compelling story, thus earning enough of your investment for the film to have its points of genuine effectiveness. Sure, the film is a bit messy in its dramatic effectiveness, often either having lost too much steam or gained too much sentimentality by the time the drama rolls in, yet with the story being so strong and the execution being so extensive, it's only a matter of time before you hit a dramatic point that really does pierce, maybe not to the point of leaving you terribly choked-up, yet still to the point of earning an emotional raise. The road to points such as those is an overlong and bumpy one, yet still one worth sitting through, as well as rather easy to sit through, not just because of Martin Brest's generally inspired storytelling, but also Bo Goldman's consistently inspired screenplay, which may be fairly bloated and even a little bit overdone when it comes to certain aspects (I understand that blindness radically enhances other senses, but considering how Al Pacino's Frank Slade character will pick up on things that are so ridiculously specific that this film practically turns into sci-fi film for a moment, I suppose M. Night Shyamalan really was right about some kind of telepathy being the sixth sense), yet is generally well-structured, as well as punched up quite a bit by dialogue that may get to be overlong, and even rather improvable on occasions, yet is generally quite snappy, memorable and altogether engagingly charming. Still, what really really brings this film to life is the colorful cast of charismas in charge of, well, bringing this film to life, as there are more than a few characters who are made memorable by the charming performers behind them, with the second most memorable character being portrayed with layers and, at times, even rather unexpected penetrating depth by co-leading man Chris O'Donnell, and the single most memorable character of all being taken on by the man who is pretty obviously above-and-beyond the biggest standout of this film: The great Mr. Al Pacino. Pacino has always been charismatic, but in this film, he's particularly overwhelmingly charming, being unrelentingly fantastic in his sparkling line delivery while he really nails the Frank Slade's character's wisdom and delightfully layered personality that marries both a degree of good-heartedness and, especially, take-no-bull, and when it comes to the more challenging aspects, Pacino soars, whether it be in his buyable portrayal of a competent blind man or in his donning of a profound shroud of mystery that leaves us wondering about the truest aspects within the essence of Slade, and with Pacino hinting at the darker depths of Slade with an emotional range that goes anywhere from a subtle atmosphere of disturbance to the occasional piece of piercing emoting, what we're ultimately left with is an engrossing lead who is as unpredictable as he is charming, and woah boy, does Pacino raise a standard with that charm. However, as much as Pacino steals the show, he still leaves room for others to win you over, thus creating a kind of intense chemistry between Pacino and his castmates - especially Chris O'Donnell -, and with said castmates also having strong chemistry with each other, what we're left with is a very human and lively network of memorable charismas within this film that goes primarily driven by its human aspects, and with other major aspects going done more often than not extremely, the final product emerges through all of its bloated excessiveness and faults in effectiveness as an often dramatically gripping, thoroughly enjoyable and ultimately satisfying effort.

Overall, the film is excessively overlong, with plenty of expendable material, a couple of moments of nothingness and, of course, immense bloating in the dialogue and exposition, thus leaving the film to drag on and on and lose much steam along the way, until finally - and with the help of the occasional piece of moderate sentimentality - the effectiveness of the film goes tainted and the final product is rendered not simply easy to fall out of at points, but in danger of collapsing as underwhelming, yet when you get down to it, the film has more than enough strength at its back to power through the faults and potential underwhelmingness, boasting cinematography that may not be consistently stunning, but has its moments amidst its consistency in bouncing certain articles of environment in a rather handsome fashion, thus creating something to catch your eye, while your investment goes captured by the strong story that goes really brought to life by Martin Brest's imperfect yet mostly compellingly inspired direction and Bo Goldman's extensive (Perhaps too much so) screenplay and mostly memorably winning dialogue, as well as powered by a colorfully charming cast, from which a strong Chris O'Donnell stands out, though not as much as Al Pacino enthralls you with overwhelming charisma and an authentic portrayal of both the external and internal traits of the Frank Slade character, whose mystery, depth and layers that go executed with effortless skill by Pacino help in making him a compelling show-stealer, as well as one of the many strengths that ultimately leave Martin Brest's "Scent of a Woman" to stand as a thoroughly likable and rewarding charmer that's generally well worth the overlong sit.

3/5 - Good.