The Professor and the Madman

At the end of the nineteenth century James Murray, a philologist without a university degree, is put in charge of compiling the Oxford English Dictionary. He appeals to the public for examples of words in use. The most prolific contributor sends thousands of slips and never appears. When Murray finds him, he is W. C. Minor, an American former army surgeon held in Broadmoor asylum for killing a man. The film was directed by Farhad Safinia, though his name is not on it. Mel Gibson plays Murray and Sean Penn plays Minor. The production ended in court. The dispute started over locations: Gibson and Safinia argued that key scenes had to be shot at Oxford rather than at Trinity College in Dublin, and asked for an additional 2.5 million dollars. The producers, Voltage Pictures, refused to go back to their investors and the shoot collapsed. Safinia sued for copyright infringement; a California judge threw the case out because he had signed over the rights to the script in a work-for-hire agreement dated 21 August 2016. The matter settled confidentially in April 2019. Thirty-five minutes were cut from the studio's version. Safinia removed his name and used the pseudonym P.B. Shemran. Gibson also refused to own the result, calling the Voltage version a bitter disappointment. Who it is for: anyone curious about the history of the dictionary and about two actors playing off each other. Who it is not for: viewers who want the director's film. What exists is the producer's cut, and both principals disown it.