Richard Says Goodbye – The Professor (2018)

Directed by: Wayne Roberts | 91 minutes | comedy, drama | Actors: Johnny Depp, Rosemarie DeWitt, Odessa Young, Danny Huston, Zoey Deutch, Devon Terrell, Ron Livingston, Linda Emond, Matreya Scarrwener, Siobhan Fallon Hogan, Paloma Kwiatkowski, Kaitlyn Bernard, Michael Kopsa

Johnny Depp is an actor with a very mixed film career. While the actor shows a lot of skill in some roles, in others he only shows a clear enthusiasm for a generous salary. In the 90s, the actor was mainly known for his collaborations with Tim Burton, but now Depp is best known to the general public for his role as Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean films. It is therefore remarkable that Depp has chosen the comedy film ‘Richard Says Goodbye’ for his new role, a film much smaller than his usual projects.

In ‘Richard Says Goodbye’, Depp plays the title role of Richard, an English university professor who is diagnosed with lung cancer. The disease is already in an advanced stage and with a bit of luck Richard will have only six months to live. As if his impending death weren’t enough, Richard also learns that his wife Veronica (Rosemarie DeWitt) is having an affair with his boss Henry (Ron Livingston). Dismayed but also encouraged, Richard chooses to shake things up during his last months: he only offers lessons about life instead of literature, he resists the establishment in all areas and he speaks his mind. unabashedly expresses himself about everything that is bothering him – while simultaneously pleasing himself with as much drink, drugs and sex as he can get.

A comedy about a serious subject like cancer is always a very ambitious undertaking, and in the case of ‘Richard Says Goodbye’ it doesn’t turn out well. This is largely due to the main character of the film: Richard. Depp’s character as the protagonist automatically arouses compassion because of his condition, but his personality leaves a lot to be desired. Richard is a very unsympathetic character on every level: he is rude, loud, grumpy, pretentious and above all very childish. Richard is also not funny at all – abrupt comedic moments, where Richard does or says something that is supposedly humorous, always kills. In addition, no effort is made to offer the viewer a glimpse into his train of thought. Nothing becomes clear about Richard, except that he has a huge ego and that he takes his joy from the misery of others. A peek into his subconscious might explain his inappropriate behavior, but that’s not offered here. Richard’s insufferable attitude quickly becomes exhausting, with the result that you completely lose all sincere hope in a somewhat good outcome for him.

Almost as problematic as Richard himself is the tone of the film. Writer and director Wayne Roberts doesn’t seem to know what kind of movie he wants to deliver. The film is somewhere between a gooey melodrama and a banal comedy, constantly battling different genre aspects. ‘Richard Says Goodbye’ can perhaps best be described as a tragicomedy in that respect, since the film is not funny or tragic enough to count as one of those terms. The film also often abuses a very easy and manipulative way of tearing. It is mainly the unhealthy marriage between Richard and Veronica that should stimulate this emotion. In the third act of the film, director Roberts is only too eager to convince the viewer that there is a strong emotional bond between the two characters, but this has no build-up of any kind and just falls out of thin air. Rather than spend time with the unfaithful couple, Roberts much prefers to engage in his main character’s childish escapades, with the result that there is no genuine emotion of any kind for Richard and Veronica.

On a technical level, the film is largely solid. The cinematography in the film is quite simple, but nevertheless works effectively. There are some very nice shots and there is not much wrong with the editing either. The real problems of ‘Richard Says Goodbye’ really lie in the main character and in the tone, where Wayne Roberts has made an incredibly big mistake. A film with similar themes is Sam Mendes’ American Beauty, a film that Roberts clearly drew inspiration from. Where ‘Richard Says Goodbye’ fails in its execution, ‘American Beauty’ excels in almost every way. ‘American Beauty’ is in many ways the film that ‘Richard Says Goodbye’ could have been, but in its current state the film simply falls short.