Scent of a Woman

1992

Director: Martin Brest

Distributor: Universal Pictures

Key Elements: Characters – Lines – Message

My Review:

Al Pacino’s performance makes this movie. It is fun to watch his young escort try to keep up with his swaggering attitude and quick quips.

But there is also a couple great messages to be taken from this movie.

First is that we should stick to what we believe is right, even when under pressure to give in. And, if a friend is taking a courageous stand, we should support them and stick up for them.

Second is that friendships are important. Al Pacino’s character wants to kill himself until his new friend gives him a reason not to. Without relationships, life becomes meaningless.

One of the best scenes in the movie is when the blind gentleman tango’s with a young woman.

Clip:



Quotes:

• Uh-oh, we got a moron here.
• Women! What can you say? Who made 'em? God must have been a fuckin' genius. The hair... They say the hair is everything, you know. Have you ever buried your nose in a mountain of curls... just wanted to go to sleep forever? Or lips... and when they touched, yours were like... that first swallow of wine... after you just crossed the desert. Tits. Hoo-ah! Big ones, little ones, nipples staring right out at ya, like secret searchlights. Mmm. Legs. I don't care if they're Greek columns... or secondhand Steinways. What's between 'em... passport to heaven. I need a drink. Yes, Mr Sims, there's only two syllables in this whole wide world worth hearing: pussy. Hah! Are you listenin' to me, son? I'm givin' ya pearls here.
• Whoo-ah
• Clear them little bottles off. And when I get off the phone here, call up Hyman and tell him I want it wall to wall with John Daniels.
  - Don't you mean Jack Daniels?
  He may be Jack to you son, but when you've known him as long as I have... that's a joke.
• Well, gentlemen, when the shit hits the fan, some guys run and some guys stay.
• Ah, that's amazing.
  - Well, I'm in the amazing business.
• The day we stop lookin', Charlie, is the day we die.
• Out of order, I show you out of order. You don't know what out of order is, Mr. Trask. I'd show you, but I'm too old, I'm too tired, I'm too fuckin' blind. If I were the man I was five years ago, I'd take a FLAMETHROWER to this place! Out of order? Who the hell do you think you're talkin' to? I've been around, you know? There was a time I could see. And I have seen. Boys like these, younger than these, their arms torn out, their legs ripped off. But there isn't nothin' like the sight of an amputated spirit. There is no prosthetic for that. You think you're merely sending this splendid foot soldier back home to Oregon with his tail between his legs, but I say you are... executin' his soul! And why? Because he's not a Bairdman. Bairdmen. You hurt this boy, you're gonna be Baird bums, the lot of ya. And Harry, Jimmy, Trent, wherever you are out there, FUCK YOU TOO!
• I don't know if Charlie's silence here today is right or wrong; I'm not a judge or jury. But I can tell you this: he won't sell anybody out to buy his future!
• "Now I have come to the cross-roads in my life - and I knew, without exception, I knew - which path was the right one - but I never took it. And do you know why? Because It was too damned hard. Now here's Charlie, he's come to the cross-roads, and he has chosen a path. It's the right path. A path that is made of principle, which leads to character. Now that's the stuff leaders should be made of."

Stills: