Cinema Experts

"When I made Batman Forever (1995), I felt like I was making a movie. When I made Batman & Robin (1997), I felt like I was making a toy commercial.”
O'Donnell was discovered when he was cast in a McDonald's commercial, in which he served Michael Jordan. His first television role was an appearance on the series Jack and Mike in 1986. At the age of seventeen, he was offered a chance to audition for a part in the movie Men Don’t Leave, with Jessica Lange, and he won the role. In the early 1990s, O'Donnell was a featured player in many successful movies such as Fried Green Tomatoes (1991) and Scent of a Woman (1992) with Al Pacino. He was named one of the twelve Promising New Actors of 1992 in John Willis' Screen World, Vol. 44.
After the success of Circle of Friends (1995), O'Donnell was chosen over Leonardo DiCaprio for the role of Robin in the hugely successful Batman Forever. The role of Robin was one of the most sought-after roles at that time. O'Donnell was part of a field that included DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Christian Bale (who went on to play the Dark Knight himself in Batman Begins), Jude Law, Ewan MacGregor, Corey Haim, Corey Feldman, Tobey Stephens, and Scott Speedman. Producers narrowed their choices to DiCaprio and O'Donnell. At a comic book convention, they asked a group of eleven year-old boys, the target audience, attending which actor could beat the other in a fistfight. When the boys overwhelmingly declared O'Donnell the winner, he was ultimately given the role.
O'Donnell followed that film with an appearance in the 1996 film The Chamber, based on the John Grisham novel, which was a good success at the box office. He subsequently appeared in the Batman sequel, Batman & Robin, in 1997. Critically panned, the movie turned out to be one of the largest box office failures in history. He was considered for the lead role in Spider-Man, when the project was in development with James Cameron directing in 1996. Tobey Maguire was ultimately cast.
O'Donnell did not appear in another movie for two years. He was the producers' original choice for the role of James Edwards in Men in Black (1997), but the role went to Will Smith. His next appearance was in the Robert Altman film Cookie's Fortune, as part of the ensemble. His more mainstream comeback films The Bachelor (1999) and Vertical Limit (2000) were only moderately successful. Following Vertical Limit, a four-year hiatus led many to believe he had met the same career fate of his Batman & Robin co-star Alicia Silverstone. However, in 2004, he appeared in the widely praised Kinsey.
O'Donnell took a lead role in the Fox Network television series Head Cases in 2005. The show was the first show of the fall 2005 season to be cancelled, and only two episodes were aired. He was subsequently cast as veterinarian Finn Dandridge on the popular ABC drama Grey's Anatomy. O'Donnell appeared in the last six episodes of the 2005-2006 season, and has made additional appearances in the 2006-2007 season.
Most recently, he has figured prominently in the acclaimed TNT miniseries The Company as fictional CIA agent Jack McCauliffe in a performance which subtly portrayed his character's progression from spoon-fed Yale elitist to jaded, post-Cold War cynic.

“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!”
The Scent of a Woman is the kind of film that many would think belongs to a bygone era. While it is frank and contemporary without sugar coating it illustrates the value of character over glitz and how small acts can have long lasting consequences.The film pits two characters who are diametrical opposites. Al Pacino plays the world weary retired Army Lt. Colonel who through a stupid accident looses his sight and his way of life. Chris Donnelly is a young prep school kid on a scholarship whose way of life may be coming to an end owing to the acts of richer kids at the exclusive prep school who pull a stupid stunt.
The blind Lt. Colonel needs an escort so that he can go to NYC and have a rip roaring time before he makes a fateful decision. The poor preppy needs to earn a few bucks to travel and is in desperate need of some advice on how to get through his crisis at school.The interplay between the two characters is mind boggling. Both characters are asked to make life and death decisions that call for them to reach deep into their inner core. The right decision is unhappily the tougher decision to make.
Two terrific scenes that are not to be missed. The first is in the New York ballroom where the blind Lt. Colonel teaches the actress Miss Anwar to dance the tango. The second and most profound is the speech that Al Pacino makes in defense of Chris Donnelly at the prep school disciplinary hearing. It has to go down as one of the great orations of all times.
There's something about this film that keeps you company. It's like you're also spending the weekend with Colonel Slade. It entertains your darkest notions and tops your depth of grief and then somehow elevates you to find hope amidst our consciously blind existence. Really worth the two and a half hours. Every last second… 9/10