The Professor and the Madman (2019)

Directed by: Farhad Safinia | 125 minutes | biography, drama | Actors: Mel Gibson, Sean Penn, Eddie Marsan, Natalie Dormer, Jennifer Ehle, Steve Coogan, Stephen Dillane, Ioan Gruffud, Jeremy Irvine, Laurence Fox, Anthony Andrews, Lars Brygmann, Bryan Murray, David O’Hara, Sean Duggan, Olivia McKevitt

Book adaptations are extremely popular. When a novel does well and becomes a bestseller, you can bet there’ll be an announcement in no time that there are plans for a movie. Useful. After all, the story is already there and has already proven its success. What went through Farhad Safinia’s mind when he decided to can this film remains a mystery. In his debut he presents the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary. Right, a dictionary. Admittedly, entire tribes have this book on their shelves, but who gets excited about a movie adaptation of a dictionary? Hopefully a lot of people, because Safinia has canned an interesting production. Not a word of a lie.

‘The Professor and the Madman’ centers on the creation of Oxford English Dictionary (OED). In 1875, Professor James Murray (Mel Gibson) decides to start working on the bulky book. Of course he cannot do this alone, so he decides to get as many people as possible on their feet. And one of these individuals is William Chester Minor (Sean Penn). This man makes over 10,000 contributions. Murray is very grateful to him for that and wants to thank him. Minor, however, turns out to be locked up in an asylum after he committed a murder.

This film relies on the great performances of Gibson and Penn. The always reliable Gibson creates an empathetic character that you like to follow. He obliges himself to Penn who takes off with the most beautiful and layered role. He plays the mysterious Minor and creates an intriguing figure. These two acting cannons make sure this movie never collapses. That’s great, because the running time of 124 minutes is really too long, so that the film drags at times. It could have been a little shorter and smoother. Thanks to the play of these two men, you will keep watching. Nathalie ‘Game Of Thrones’ Dormer is also doing well in a beautiful supporting role.

Anyone interested in a forgotten piece of history should give this film a shot. Fans of the aforementioned actors and actress too, by the way.