Scent of a Woman is a American drama film produced and directed by Martin Brest that tells the story of a preparatory school student who takes a short-term job near Thanksgiving as a companion and assistant to a retired Army lieutenant colonel who is blind, depressed and irritable. This was previously adapted by Dino Risi for his Italian film Profumo di donna. Hoffman , Gabrielle Anwar and Bradley Whitford in supporting roles.
The film had a limited theatrical release on December 23, , expanding nationwide on January 8, It received generally positive responses from critics and was a box-office success.
Pacino won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance. Charlie Simms is a scholarship student at Baird, an exclusive New England preparatory school. Charlie accepts so he can buy a plane ticket home to Gresham , Oregon, for Christmas. He meets Frank, a highly decorated, blind Vietnam War veteran who has become a cantankerous and cynical alcoholic. Charlie and student George Willis Jr.
Afterward, Trask learns of the witnesses and unsuccessfully presses them to name the perpetrators. He privately offers Charlie virtually guaranteed acceptance to Harvard University if Charlie will inform on the other students. Trask schedules a meeting of the school disciplinary committee to take place on the Monday after the Thanksgiving weekend. During dinner in the Oak Room at the Plaza Hotel, Frank reveals that the goals of his trip are to stay at a luxurious hotel, enjoy good food and wine, visit his older brother, and have sex with a "terrific" woman.
Afterward, he intends to die by suicide. Frank provokes everyone at dinner, which ends up in a confrontation with his nephew Randy, who reveals that Frank was not blinded heroically in combat, but in an accident that occurred when he juggled live grenades to show off for a group of younger officers.
