The Professor and the Madman | Rotten Tomatoes

The Professor and the Madman

Released May 10, 2019

2 hr. 5 min.

History

Drama

Biography

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39%

33 Reviews

Tomatometer

80%

500+ Ratings

Audience Score

Professor James Murray begins work on compiling words for the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary in the mid-19th century.

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Premiered Jul 25

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David B

I've read the book and found the movie excellent. I'm usually quite fussy with films. This was really well done !

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/15/24

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Ace R

what planet do the critics live in up there with shawshank redemption for the simple reason this was a true story penns acting was off the scale reccomend this film to anyone forget ratings

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/30/24

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Jeff M

While not the trainwreck I expected, considering Gibson tried to block the release of this film and it was disavowed by its director, this is a textbook example illustrating the fact that fascinating lives don't necessarily make fascinating movies. This is an amazing story - no one would believe it if it weren't true - but watching the compilation of a dictionary for over two hours is not inherently interesting to watch. The result unfortunately reminds me of one of those horrible faith-based movies that have the most wonderful of intentions but the most unfortunate of executions. Gibson is one-note and sullen throughout - and incorporates about 47 different accents. Facial hair does not a performance make. Penn, a phenomenally talented actor, doesn't fare much better, and while the role requires a range of physical and emotional highs and lows, it still comes across as somewhat lazy. The role of Gibson's wife, which becomes rather pivotal as the story unfolds, is embarrassingly bad and woefully underwritten. Natalie Dormer, an actress about whom I know nothing, easily walks away with the picture and has the only moments of true emotion throughout. Someone once said trying to capture the excitement and art of writing is almost impossible cinematically, and I'm afraid the filmmakers have proven this point. It kept me somewhat interested throughout - so it's not a total travesty. And there are a couple very nice moments scattered throughout. But otherwise, this comes across as bland and forgettable.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/11/24

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Norm

Excellent movie. No other words just Excellent.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/04/24

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Alaine B

I'm with the guy who wrote ‘The critics are wrong this movie is great.' Vast difference in scoring and I'm so glad I went with the audience average score. I loved this movie - its story, engaging from beginning to end. Loved the acting from all (although Sean Penn may have been a tad too much at times). I only took one star away because of heading down the romance path which lacked credibility. But I loved everything else about this film.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/12/24

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Tony S

Loved it! Tremendous movie, hard to believe it's based on fact from a book by Simon Winchester. Sean Penn gives an outstanding performance, Mel Gibson a very solid performance acting as Murray, Scottish autodidact with a stupendous grasp of words and language who signs up to drive the Oxford dictionary of the English language based on historical sources of the words. An excellent, supporting cast of all the familiar British actors and love through many British film and TV productions. Jennifer Ehle is excellent as Murray's wife.. I found the film to be extremely moving, in exploring the fusty snooty supercilious world of academia (the delightful use of all the English words throughout the screenplay increases sensitivity to delightful use of language), plus the treatment of mental illness in the 19th century before modern knowledge. An excellent movie – I hear there were artistic differences between the Director and stars, and the producers, who wanted to film it more cheaply hence the scenes were not actually shot in Oxford. But a really worthwhile movie, and I will watch it again.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/28/23

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Farhad Safinia

Director

Mel Gibson

James Murray

Sean Penn

Dr. William Chester Minor

Natalie Dormer

Eliza Merrett

Jennifer Ehle

Ada Murray

Jeremy Irvine

Charles Hall

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David Stratton

The Australian

If only The Professor and the Madman as a whole matched the central performances, but it falls short on a number of levels.

Rated: 3/5

Feb 25, 2020

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Paul Byrnes

Sydney Morning Herald

The film is a bombastic dirge verging on the preposterous.

Rated: 2/5

Feb 19, 2020

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Elizabeth Kerr

Hollywood Reporter

Ironically, for a movie about words, the dialogue only sparks to life on rare occasion.

May 25, 2019

Full Review

Nadine Whitney

Mr. Movie's Film Blog

The film is stuffy, sanctimonious, and so wholly riddled with self-indulgence that it has already been consigned to the dust bin of cinematic history as an abject failure.

Sep 17, 2023

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Martha K. Baker

KDHX (St. Louis)

Winchester's well-written book evolved into a mess of a movie.

Jan 5, 2021

Full Review

John Serba

Decider

Isn't the unwatchable mess we expected it to be. But it's not quite worth a recommendation either.

Dec 22, 2020

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Synopsis

Professor James Murray begins work on compiling words for the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary in the mid-19th century.

Director: Farhad Safinia
Screenwriter: John Boorman, Todd Komarnicki, Farhad Safinia
Distributor: Vertical Entertainment
Production Co: Fastnet Films, Voltage Pictures, Icon Entertainment International
Genre: History, Drama, Biography
Original Language: English (United Kingdom)
Release Date (Theaters): May 10, 2019, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): May 10, 2019
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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