The Professor and the Madman movie review

MOVIE TITLE: The Professor and the Madman

RATING: Not Rated (yet)

LENGTH: 2 hours, 4 minutes

Movie Review Mom GRADE: A-

IN A NUTSHELL: Words are powerful. This biopic is based on the book by Simon Winchester called The Surgeon of Crowthorne : A Tale of Murder, Madness and Love of Words

Mel Gibson bought the film rights of the book back in 1999 and is finally bringing it to us on the Big Screen. This film was directed by Farhad Safinia.

It’s hard to imagine that a movie about people writing a dictionary could be interesting, right? It IS and has many layers of meaning. Honestly, the first time I watched it, I was a teensy bit bored. When I watched it the second time (after I filmed my review on my Movie Review Mom YouTube channel), I was able to pull out more nuanced moments from the actors and the themes. I even changed my score from a B+ to an A-. The more I think about it, I might even change it to a solid A. If you’re a wordsmith, you’ll really enjoy this thoughtful film.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Kids will be bored out of their minds.
Some profanity.
Discussion and some portrayal of a murder

THEMES:

Forgiveness, repentance, redemption
Persistence
Friendship
“Only a most diligent life.” – Professor James Murray wrote this in his notebook
“If love, then what?” – Dr. W. C. Minor (Sean Penn)
Love
Family
The power of words
Sanity

THINGS I LIKED:

I loved hearing Mel Gibson with a Scottish accent again. I thought he was excellent in Braveheart. I know he has fallen in and out of favor in Hollywood over the years, but I’ve always thought he was an extremely talented actor and director.
Sean Penn gives a very strong Dead Man Walking performance. He truly disappears in the role. Oscar-worthy performance even.
I love the idea of all of England contributing to one big project that would benefit them all. Creating the Oxford Dictionary really was a huge undertaking that blessed all of the English-speaking world at the time. What an enormous undertaking.
Fans of Game of Thrones: The Complete Seasons 1-7 Will be happy to see Natalie Dormer.
After the awful Holmes And Watson aired, it’s nice to see Steve Coogan playing a dramatic role. I get a kick out of him and really enjoyed him in The Trip.
Eliza Merrett’s young children were adorable.
The talented author Milton was quoted several times. Have you read his famous book Paradise Lost?
You get to see a few pictures of the real people at the end of the movie. I would love to have seen and learned more.
The themes of forgiveness and redemption were really powerful.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

Many of the scenes are filmed in very dark rooms, making it difficult to watch on a computer or other small-screen device when it comes out on streaming.
I could hardly understand Jennifer Ehle when she spoke. I really like her but she mumbled so quietly and had an accent that made it frustratingly difficult to hear.
It takes almost an hour before Professor Murray (Mel Gibson) and Dr. Minor (Sean Penn) connect and we see them together in the movie.
You have to watch Sean Penn throw up several times. Bleh.
The second half of the movie was much more interesting than the first half.

INTERESTING LINES:

“To fashion a book, I’ll need a spine.” – Professor James Murray (Mel Gibson)
“This is not about history. This is recording the evolution of meaning.” – Professor Murray
“We will be watching with a concerned eye” – Dr. Richard Brayne (Stephen Dillane)

“Watch then, and be amazed.” – Professor Murray