The Professor and the Madman

Who ar ethe wahoos who determine these things? Sean penn most certainly deserved a nod at the best actor categories supported or main. A great period piece of a unknown story of something every single one of us have used in our lives. Available on Netflix.

Unforeseen: when a movie about people LITERALLY writing a dictionary turns out to be captivating, specially the further it strays from the actual dictionary-writing. "The Professor and the Madman" features Sean Penn and Mel Gibson both retaking characteristics from some of their better-known, pre-controversy roles, with Gibson going back to the "Braveheart" Scottish accent and Penn to the "Dead Man Walking" maybe-redeemable inmate murderer; resulting in a very strong on-screen chemistry.

By the time this movie is released in most markets, its fame will likely stem from its legal issues which lead to Mel Gibson basically disavowing it and director Farhad Safinia doing so in full (the movie is credited to "P.B. Shemran", an Alan Smithee-like alias if there's ever been one). I find this decision suprising as for most of the film I could have easily bought this as a Mel Gibson-directed work. As a filmmaker, he might not have the strongest of auteurial signatures, but said signature that can most easily be defined in the depiction of gore, a fascination with language and Christian faith elements (most obvious in "The Passion of the Christ" and "Hacksaw Ridge"), definitely makes an appearance here.

Not content with Gibson-like directorial decisions, the screenplay fortunately digs deeper into some topics than any Gibson script has. Penn's character's arc in particular is well-developed in creating empathy towards the mentally ill, which is still not common enough nowadays, nevermind in a time when phrenology was still a valid study. The word "redemption", so rare yet supposed to be the most Christian of virtues as well, gets a very strong definition with this character arc. Obsession is touched upon as well, not to Aronofsky-an levels, but still enough to be worthy of a mention.

Considering the unforeseen depth of the treatment of these topics, it's truly unfortunate that there are some cases where the movie relies of the most shallow of tropes to force tension. The worst case of this is the almost-mustache-twirling-villain characters, with no depth or motive beyond antagonizing and foiling our brave heroes. One case in particular is not as tragic when a (until then) well-developed and rounded character inexplicably takes that villanous turn, at least having given us a solid base before. Additionally, the visuals suffer with some establishing shots clearly having made with inferior digital video quality, creating a jarring effect that takes you out of the movie. All in all, despite these shortcomings, "The Professor and the Madman" is a worthy story that goes into unanticipated and fortuitous depths, intensities, profoundities.

It's apparent that unless there are s'plosions and CGI, the imbecilic critics (and most marvel fans) will hate it. This is a timeless film; well acted, a slice of history often forgotten. It should be seen by anyone with sense.

My wife and I watched this at home on DVD from our public library. All the actors are very good in their roles, and especially Sean Penn as the "madman." My only gripe is his mumbling which required us to turn on the subtitles to be sure we knew what he was saying.

This movie is very historically accurate, as the movie opens in 1872 London we see Sean Penn as American Civil War veteran Dr. William Chester Minor, chasing down and shooting a man he thought was out to get him. At his trial he was declared innocent by reason of insanity then spent the next 38 years in an English mental institution.

At that same time Mel Gibson as James Murray had been put in charge of assembling the comprehensive Oxford Dictionary of the English language, a monumental task that eventually took several decades to complete, carrying on after Murray died. It turned out Minor had experience and skills that helped greatly and eventually the two became friends even though Minor remained institutionalized. He eventually returned to the USA and was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

This is an important chapter in human history, the writing of the comprehensive dictionary, and it was nice to learn what all went into it with some good points about human nature and the ability to forgive.

A few years ago I started to wonder if Hollywood creativity is dry? Now, with this epic movie; not in its events, but in its richness on both the human and artistic sides. A representative performance at the highest level. Four characters centered around; the character of Professor James Murray, played by Mel Gibson and his wife Ada Murray, played by Jennifer Ehle and Dr. William Chester Minor, played by Sean Penn and the wife of the murdered Eliza Merrett, played by Natalie Dormer. These personalities were at the top of their artistic representation, not to mention the characterization of the character and the depth of the human dimension of each. I humbly think that this film will enter Oscar 2020 nominations as the best film and another nomination for the best actor performance to Shin Bin.