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The Professor and the Madman
2019 124 min France, Ireland, Mexico, United States of America, Iceland, Belgium 16+
★6.3
History, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Director: Farhad Safinia
📖 Based on the novel
«The Surgeon of Crowthorne»
bySimon Winchester
Trailers
EN
EN
Description
Professor James Murray begins work compiling words for the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary in the mid 19th century, and receives over 10,000 entries from a patient at Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum, Dr. William Minor.
Budget:
$25M
Worldwide:
$4.96M
Starring
Mel Gibson
Actor
Sean Penn
Actor
Eddie Marsan
Actor
Awards
1 nomination total
Key opinion
The Professor and the Madman is a handsomely mounted period drama anchored by compelling lead performances, though it struggles with uneven pacing and a narrative that some feel fails to capture the intellectual rigor of its subject matter. While critics are divided on whether the film is an insightful character study or a bloated, sluggish production, most agree that the on-screen chemistry between Mel Gibson and Sean Penn is the project's primary strength.
| Acting | Mel Gibson and Sean Penn deliver strong, authentic portrayals that anchor the film's character-driven narrative. | |
| Production | The cinematography and production design successfully establish an immersive, dark, and depressive atmosphere characteristic of 19th-century London and Oxford. | |
| Pacing | The film's slow, contemplative pacing and extended runtime create a divide: some find the deliberate tempo rewarding for its emotional depth, while others view it as tedious and padded. | |
| Screenplay | The screenplay is criticized for failing to adequately depict the intellectual process of creating the Oxford English Dictionary, focusing more on melodrama than on the work itself. |