Friday, February 22, 2013

A Baird Man


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This is, of course, from Scent of a Woman, the 1992 film starring Al Pacino and Chris O'Donnell. O'Donnell and Pacino play, as Wikpedia puts it:
Charlie Simms is a student at an exclusive New England prep school. Unlike most of his peers, Charlie was not born to a wealthy family. To pay for a flight home for Christmas, Charlie accepts a temporary job over Thanksgiving weekend looking after retired Army Ranger Lieutenant  Colonel Frank Slade, who Charlie discovers to be a cantankerous blind alcoholic.
 "Cantakerous" is putting it mildly. He's an asshole. Half the film is Slade berating Charlie. But, it's fun to watch, in a similar fashion to R. Lee Ermey's portrayal of the DI in Full Metal Jacket. You just can't help but watch the show. He's also a blowhard - but as the movie progresses, we learn that he really has been there and done that, and he does have some endearing traits.

Charlie finds himself in a moral quandary when he and another student witness other students arranging a prank (which finds the headmaster and his "committee bought Jaguar" covered in white paint), and called in and pressured to inform on those students. Of course, all the other kids are rich, and Charlie is not, and the headmaster tries to bribe Charlie with a scholarship to move on to Harvard if he finks.

He then finds himself traveling to New York City with the Lieutenant Colonel for a "breather" - unknown to Slade's family keepers, who would undoubtedly be against it. Fine dining, drinking, a suite at the Waldorf Astoria, a night with a high class hooker, then commit suicide. Charlie ends up talking Slade out of it - and that moment is the climax of the story, as far as I'm concerned.

As the trip progresses, the two gain a measure of respect for each other. Charlie could see Slade's pain and understand the bluster, and Slade could see that Charlie wasn't the weak willed pushover he originally thought the kid was. He learns that Charlie has a stiff spine and a good set of morals. His perceived weakness is just his natural kindness and affability.

But, Charlie's predicament remains unsolved, and he is called before a meeting with the disciplinary committee with the entire school present. Slade unexpectedly shows up in support of Charlie, and cannot hold his opinion in any further after the headmaster excoriates Charlie and lets his wealthy companion witness (with his father, a big donor, beside him) slide. The other "conspirators" were named by the kid, but the headmaster just couldn't do anything to them without corroborating proof. So, he was recommending expulsion for Charlie when Slade erupted, as seen in the video above.

That has to be one of the great scenes from modern movies, period. Some accused Pacino of overacting - he certainly played the part to the hilt. This scene wouldn't have made as much sense if Pacino wasn't so exuberant for the rest of the film - it would have been out of character. And, IMHO, this is probably Chris O'Donnell's best performance in a film. He's been a disappointment ever since.

And this isn't the only notable scene - while in NYC, Slade and Charlie encounter a young woman waiting for her boyfriend, and Slade talks her into dancing the tango. With him. The blind guy.


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Great stuff, eh? I wasn't going to post three videos in one article, but sheesh, this is the climax of the movie, and it gets pretty intense. And there is language involved.


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But, even though you've just seen three major events from the movie - if you have not seen the whole thing, you need to. There is soooo much more I'm not telling you about, and you do get to see some serious character development as the movie progresses. And Pacino finally won a Best Actor Oscar, after seven previous nominations.

It's certainly a tour de force for Pacino. Highly recommended.

12 comments:

drjim said...

Absolutely one of the BEST movies I've ever seen.
That speehc about "Baird men", and the way he delivered it, is what won Pacino his Oscar for this movie.
Truly superb acting.

Jeffro said...

Damn straight! But seeing how his character got to that point - Pacino had some mad skilz there as well. Slade had to learn from Charlie in order to give that speech. Every time I rewatch this flick, I am reminded how freaking good it really is.

drjim said...

Yeah, the interaction between the two of them, and how they BOTH changed as a result of spending time with each other, is one of the key plot elements in the movie.
I really liked at the end when Slade talks to Miss Downes. It seems like there could be a possibility of the Colonel and her maybe getting together.
Slade is from another world to her...not a world of the history that's written in books, but from a world where he helped make that history, and I'm sure she's NEVER met anybody like him.

Jeffro said...

Oh yeah. What's more, she really did like the Colonel. And the closing scene where the Colonel gives the children a hard time really does bring home how much he had changed from that trip, and how human he could be.

I know I always feel hopeful that Miss Downes and Slade would hook up. Of course, we were manipulated to feel that way, but I went willingly!

drjim said...

I'd heard about the movie, but didn't think I'd care for it, and then one day I was helping one of my go-kart buddies do something, and stayed for dinner.
We tossed a couple of steaks on the grille, and we watched it while we were eating.
I was glued to my chair, and not too many movies do that to me.
5 stars all the way!

Jeffro said...

I suppose I saw it for the first time on HBO on my C-band dish. Hell, I even like the music - every time I hear a snippet of the refrain, my attention to anything else is pretty well kaput.

drjim said...

Oh, yeah...another sign of a really good movie. The soundtrack stays with you!

Jeffro said...

I think it's safe to draw the conclusion that we are in complete agreement about how awesome this movie really is! Heh.

drjim said...

It's definitely in both my "Top Ten" and "Movies to have if I'm stuck on a a desert island" lists!
The thing I just remembered about the Colonel meeting Miss Downes, is that *Charlie* is the one who brought up that Slade was on LBJ's staff, which just seemed to make Miss Downes 'glow' even more about meeting this MAN!

And the ending of the tango scene where the young lady's "boy"friend shows up, and takes her away. All the time that twerp is dragging her away, she just keeps looking back at Slade.
I think he was the first MAN she'd ever met!

Jeffro said...

Slade was sure trying to get Charlie hooked up!

You could really see how those two bonded on the way back from NYC in the limo.

And even though Slade loosened up considerably, he was still irascible even at the end. No mawkish goodbyes for him By Gawd.

drjim said...

I think the turning point was when Charlie stood up to him when Slade had the 45 and was going to kill himself.

Was that before Charlie got the call to try and get him to rat out the other students?

Anyway....when Charlie stood up to him, Slade knew he had a pair, and was not your average "college boy" kid, but had guts, like I'm sure Slade saw many times in battle.

Jeffro said...

Slade had already advised Charlie about Jack Black's character leaving him out to dry but I don't remember when he found out about the bribe to Harvard. They did talk about it on the way back in the limo and Charlie had no clear answer on just what he was going to do - he'd think of something is what I remember.

Yes, the suicide attempt was definitely the climax. Slade mentioned how Charlie had integrity and that was one of the talking points in his speech at Baird.