The Professor and the Madman

The Professor and the Madman is a biographical drama film based on the non-fiction book "The Surgeon of Crowthorne" by Simon Winchester. Starring Mel Gibson and Sean Penn in the leading roles, it takes an otherwise improbable subject for onscreen treatment and turns it into something surprisingly entertaining.

In 1872 in London, retired US Army doctor William Chester Minor (Sean Penn) is put on trial for the murder of an innocent man but is later found not guilty by reason of insanity and is sent to Broadmoor Mental Asylum. Meanwhile in Oxford, Professor James Murray (Mel Gibson) is given the monumental task of overseeing and editing a collection of every word used in the English language. In an attempt to aid him in this difficult assignment, Murray sends out written appeals to as many English speakers as possible around the world to contribute their own definitions of words. One of these appeals finds its way to Broadmoor, which Minor comes into possession of and decides to send in over 10,000 entries, some of which are of incredibly obscure and rarely used words. Stunned by these unique contributions, Murray decides to meet with Minor and the two form an unlikely partnership in creating what would later become the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary.

On paper, the origins of the first English dictionary ever conceived sounds like it would never work as a film in the broadest of terms. However, thanks to the efforts of the great acting from its two leads and the proper treatment of its historical subject matter, "The Professor and the Madman" succeeds on screen for the most part. Throughout the film, we are reminded how large the English language truly is and how every contribution counts towards us gaining a better understanding of the importance of expanding our vocabularies. While I wouldn't say it's essential to have an unyielding love of etymology (the study of words) like I do, I believe it certainly comes in handy when watching something like this. Personally, I'm part of that niche audience who likes films about historical events no matter how overlooked they are so I can't really speak for all potential viewers out there. With that in mind though, I think there is enough for casual filmgoers to appreciate that shouldn't bore them too much.

Director Farhad Safinia, who previously collaborated with Mel Gibson in 2006's "Apocalypto", juggles the two intersecting plotlines of a schizophrenic doctor and an Oxford professor with varying degrees of success. He chooses to juxtapose the character of Dr. Minor, whose brilliant mind has been permanently damaged by his civil war PTSD, with that of the steadfast Professor Murray, who has a strong determination to complete what he has been assigned with, and this combination of conflicting personalities is what drove things along for me. The anticipation of knowing that these two will eventually meet and decide to work together makes for an intriguing story and had me curious as to how it will turn out. There were times, though, where it felt like moments of sensationalism were added in simply for entertainment purposes rather than as a means to advance the plot. For example, there were some long and drawn out scenes involving Dr. Minor's collapsing mental state that felt unnecessary and didn't really add anything to the story. Thankfully these weren't too frequent but they still left an unfavourable impression on me and likely anyone else who might be watching.

Both Sean Penn and Mel Gibson played their roles convincingly and had solid onscreen chemistry with one another. Their personal lives aside, I still think the two of them are great actors capable of holding the viewer's attention even through some of the most exposition laden of scenes. Penn has always had a knack for playing mentally unstable characters capable of bouts of impulsiveness whereas Mel Gibson has often shone as reserved individuals whose unpredictable nature may or may not be acted upon. This film uses their talents to its advantage and it comes as a surprise that this is the first time the two have starred alongside each other as their interactions felt uncannily natural to watch. I wouldn't mind seeing more films with these two actors in the future should they ever choose to work together again.

Overall, while casual viewers may be put off by the concept of a film about the origins of the dictionary, I think there should be a select few out there who will appreciate the efforts in bringing such an important but neglected historical event to the big screen. It's easy to take for granted the language that over 20% of the world's population speaks but it's nice to know that a film like this exists to help show us that it can still make for something entertaining. I do wonder, however, if there will be a spiritual sequel involving the creation of the Thesaurus. I guess we'll have to wait and see/view/perceive/observe/watch...

I rate it 7/10

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.

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.