Say what you will about Johnny Depp the person, Johnny Depp the actor has been in a weird place the last few years. He provided a voice in Sherlock Gnomes. He was overshadowed (as was everyone) by Kenneth Branagh’s mustache in Murder on the Orient Express. Then there’s the case of City Of Lies, which was pulled months back due to a lawsuit involving Depp, which currently is in a holding pattern. He could use a win, is what we’re saying. Something that might be redeemed by this trailer for The Professor.
Or maybe not. Depp plays Richard, a teacher at a prestigious school (we’re assuming, that’s where these always take place), who finds out he has but months to live. Naturally, this causes him to discover a newfound lease on life. Teaching on the grass! Breaking bottles! Taking drugs! Hitting on people half your age! Letting people cry on your shoulder! All things you can only do when your days are numbered.
Now, depending on who you talk to, this either looks like a return to form for Depp or a parody of certain “I’m dying, so I’m embracing life” films. Going off the trailer and just the trailer alone, it feels like the later. It sure has a good cast, regardless of how you may feel about it. Rosemarie DeWitt, Danny Houston, Ron Livingston and Zoey Deutch all have distinctly talented actors. Surely they all wouldn’t make the same mistake of joining a film that’s not good, right?
All joking aside, it seems like it’s been a hot minute since there’s been a film like The Professor. A mixing of American Beauty, The Bucket List, Last Holiday and My Life, just to name a few. It has every chance of being decent or even great. Trailers aren’t always the best barometer of a completed work. So we’re more than happy to try and remain cautiously optimistic. Mostly not to sound like total curmudgeons. Even when the footage released shows the lead character careening towards a literal crossroads.
Besides the above there’s not much out there about the film. No set release date, other than the promise of “coming soon”. At least according to the trailer. Doing some digging, iMDb curiously shows a date of May 17. Since that’s right around the corner, we should have confirmation soon. The movie actually premiered last year, out of competition at the Zurich Film Festival. There’s a review floating around, but as I don’t speak German, I can’t tell you what was thought. Tentatively set plans for mid-May, if this one seems up your alley. As soon as we have more info on The Professor, we’ll update you immediately.
