The Professor and the Madman (2019)

In short, the film tries too hard to be dramatic and loses track of a poignant story of redemption and finding meaning in darkness. The dialogue is often lost in thesaurus competitions that don’t land in the way I think the writers imagined. The depth of moments is lost in the confusion.

This is the kind of romanticization of academia that is really dangerous for me personally

Mel Gibson is the standout here: I liked his gentle character and quiet strength, and leaning into the elderly Scotsman worked. Everything else is lackluster. Sean Penn’s best acting comes during his lucid moments, which seems a bit of a letdown in a character whose role is defined by his mental illness.

It’s unfortunate, because this story has a lot of potential. There’s a lot of humanness in this story, and it’s easy to be emotionally invested despite the poor execution — war’s horror, forgiveness, love, the flawed complexity of human morality, the pursuit of meaning, it’s all there. I think I’ll go find the book on which this is based. I bet it delivers better.