CNET Networks Entertainment GameSpot | GameFAQs | SportsGamer | Metacritic | MP3.com | TV.com
Home | About Metacritic | About Metascores | What's New | Wireless Versions | Discussion Forums | Advertising Inquiries | Contact Us | RSS
Metacritic.com: We Deal With Criticism
     Help
> Switch to Advanced Search  
Film Video/DVD Music Games TV

DVD and Video

Upcoming Release Calendar
Awards & Bests By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Film In Our Forums

 

Recent Releases in DVD and Video

sort by name sort by score

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.



 

Printer-Friendly Version Email This Page Discuss In Our Forums

Scent of a Woman
Universal Pictures

Scent of a Woman reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 59 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
9.1 out of 10
based on 14 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 6 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: R

Starring Al Pacino, Chris O'Donnell, James Rebhorn, Gabrielle Anwar, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Richard Venture, Bradley Whitford, and Rochelle Oliver

Al Pacino won his first Best Actor Oscar for his brilliant portrayal of an overbearing, blind retired Lieutenant Colonel who hires a young guardian (O'Donnell), to assist him. It's a heart-wrenching and heartwarming tale of opposites attracting when they embark on a wild weekend trip that will change the lives of both men forever. (Universal)


GENRE(S): Drama  
WRITTEN BY: Bo Goldman
Ruggero Maccari (character from Profumo Di Donna)
Dino Risi (character from Profumo Di Donna)
Giovanni Arpino (novel Il Buio E Il Miele)
 
DIRECTED BY: Martin Brest  
RELEASE DATE: DVD: February 8, 2005 
Video: July 23, 1993 
Theatrical: December 23, 1992 
RUNNING TIME: 157 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: USA 

Best Actor in a Leading Role (Pacino), 65th Annual Academy Awards; Nominated, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Picture, 65th Annual Academy Awards; Best Motion Picture (Drama), Best Performance by an Actor (Drama) and Best Screenplay, 1993 Golden Globe Awards

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

80
The New York Times Elvis Mitchell
The good thing is that the principals and film makers make the absolute most of a conventional opportunity.
Read Full Review
80
Los Angeles Times Peter Rainer
But it's essentially a tour de force for Pacino, and he sustains us through the slow passages by working with a closed-in intensity that turns each scene into a kind of mini-movie complete with its own ticking time bomb. [23Dec1992 Pg. 1]
75
TV Guide Staff(not credited)
Thanks to a landmark performance by Al Pacino, SCENT OF A WOMAN is an agreeably watchable film. If they'd made it half an hour shorter and re-written the ending, it could have been a great one.
Read Full Review
75
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
By the end of Scent of a Woman, we have arrived at the usual conclusion of the coming-of-age movie, and the usual conclusion of the prep school movie. But rarely have we been taken there with so much intelligence and skill.
Read Full Review
75
ReelViews James Berardinelli
If there's anything special about the film, it's that on this occasion, the emotional realism of the characters, especially Slade, is heartwrenchingly believable.
Read Full Review
75
Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
In the end, Scent of a Woman offers little more than lumbering simulation of Rain Man's nimble magic. But Pacino's performance-scabrous, tender, ripely theatrical-is a master showman's trick.
Read Full Review
70
Washington Post Hal Hinson
This is a great performance from Pacino, who has the good luck here to work with Goldman's mostly wonderful, edgy script, but it might not become a beloved one because the man he plays is such a bitter pill.
Read Full Review
60
Washington Post Desson Thomson
In the end, however, when all Pacino's demons are bared, they don't add up to the poignant punchline you were set up for. The movie seems to have two or three finales too many -- a disturbing trend in all too many films of late.
Read Full Review
60
The New Yorker Terrence Rafferty
This is acting that chills the heart beyond any possibility of warming.
Read Full Review
50
USA Today Mike Clark
A 2 1/2-hour movie with halves that don't quite mesh, it still gives Al Pacino a role that's a perfect fit. [23 Dec 1992 Pg. 01.D]
50
Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
Given the talent on board, there's an undeniable flair and effectiveness in certain scenes (such as Pacino dancing the tango with a stranger in a posh restaurant), but the meretricious calculation finally sticks in one's throat.
Read Full Review
50
Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
There's no denying that Pacino's performance is superb. The rest of the movie plays like a bunch of inconsequentially strung together sequences.
Read Full Review
38
Rolling Stone Peter Travers
The movie, however, is a crock.
Read Full Review
38
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen
Instead, you get a nominal character study that boasts a single mighty performance and one nifty scene; alas, both performance and scene exist in a narrative vacuum - the plot is non-existent and the pace makes the ice age seem hasty.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 9.1 (out of 10) based on 6 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Mark G. gave it an8:
A fine film, if overly drawn out. Its central drawing point is the great acting masterclass given by Mr. Pacino. He really brings a life and charisma to the Lt. Col. that i find hard to imagine other actors capable of replicating. Chris O Donnell for once appears not to be made out of mahogony, and give a restrained, yet powerful performance as the young student who acts as Pacino's carer. The set pieces are fabulous fun to watch, and include such memorable episodes as the blind Pacino driving a ferrari through the traffic filled streets. Overall, a very enjoyable, and well directed movie.

Parker G. gave it an8:
An unexpected treasure found on the shelf of my own DVD collection. I had purchased the movie many months ago based on the Academy Award to best actor. I had no idea what to expect and was completely enraptured with the journey the movie took me on. A wonderful movie. Don't analyze, just enjoy.

Discuss this movie in our forums

Return to top of page
Home | FILM | DVD/VIDEO | MUSIC | GAMES | TV | Forums | About Metacritic metacritic.com

Popular on CBS sites: Fantasy Football | Miley Cyrus | MLB | iPhone 3G | GPS | Recipes | Shwayze | NFL

About CNET Networks | Jobs | Advertise

© 2008 CNET Networks, Inc., a CBS Company. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use