The Professor and the Madman

For a film celebrating the beauty of the English language, The Professor and the Madman is saddled with some awfully perfunctory dialogue.

Wordsmiths might appreciate the concept behind this period piece chronicling a fascinating slice of true-life linguistic history, which stumbles when it tries to define a deeper emotional connection for two men trying to rewrite their own lives.

Taking place in Victorian-era England, the film follows James Murray (Mel Gibson), a self-taught speaker of more than a dozen languages commissioned to oversee creation of the Oxford English Dictionary. He seems the ideal choice to take over the fledgling project, except for his lack of formal education that cause the Oxford purists to balk.

Murray enthusiastically recognizes the enormity of the task. “We are about to embark on the greatest adventure our language has ever known,” the Scotsman proclaims. Maybe that’s true, although moviegoers probably won’t share that sentiment afterward.

At any rate, Murray’s strategy is to establish a worldwide pool of freelance volunteers to assist with definitions and word origins. The unlikely ace contributor is an American doctor (Sean Penn), who is locked up in the Broadmoor psychiatric hospital after being tried for murder.

Their mutually beneficial partnership deepens as each seeks redemption, including the workaholic Murray’s efforts to reconnect with his wife (Jennifer Ehle) and children.

Gibson and Penn each sport impressive beards, and adopt crazy accents as a bonus. Yet their efforts — their characters don’t meet in person until halfway through the film — can’t rescue a project that’s squanders a capable supporting cast and conveys an unfocused choppiness suggestive of post-production tinkering.

After all, the film’s director credit is a pseudonym after rookie director Farhad Safinia, who co-wrote Gibson’s Apocalypto, reportedly squabbled with producers over financing and felt his creative vision was compromised. That led to Gibson’s legal efforts to prevent release of a longtime passion project, which obviously were unsuccessful.

As far as what’s on the screen, the screenplay by Safinia and Todd Komarnicki (Sully), based on a novel by Simon Winchester, provides moderate insight into the ambitious scope of Murray’s project without technological luxuries or contemporary resources.

However, creating high drama from such a premise is difficult without incorporating twists that feel either embellished or illogical. Ultimately, The Professor and the Madman is more exciting than reading the dictionary, but not by much.

Not rated, 124 minutes.