Scent of a Woman

It plays better than it reviews — the watch lands harder than the write-ups suggest.

• “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]”

  Peter Rainer, Los Angeles Times · 80

• “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.”

  Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times · 75

• “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.”

  James Berardinelli, ReelViews · 75

• “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.”

  Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly · 75

• “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.”

  Staff(not credited), TV Guide Magazine · 75