The Professor

This Johnny Depp starrer was released in May this year and was a box office disaster.  Its reviews weren’t great either:  the critics, almost uniformly, ripped it apart.  What’s more, its trailer was a dud.  In other words, there was hardly any reason for me to have seen this movie.  But one little known YouTube reviewer, whose opinion I frequently seek out, had some very good things to say about it.  That was all the push I needed to watch the movie.  In hindsight, I am glad I did.  This was probably the funniest movie that I have seen this year.  In fact, I can’t remember the last time that I laughed out this much, or so often, in any movie.

To be clear, from a cinematic perspective, or even technically speaking, this is an unremarkable movie.  Where it shines is in the writing, and in Depp’s exceptional dialogue delivery and comic timing.  I must also mention Danny Huston, whom I can’t recollect ever seeing in a funny role.  His comic brilliance was a revelation to me, and his scenes with Depp are among the highlights of the movie.