to fall into the traps and false career paths that he took in his own life. The students are highly responsive, with one of the gay students offering Richard some pot brownies and a sexual tryst in Richard's office. The Dean's niece, on another occasion, asks Richard for a slow romantic dance at a local club. Richard's reliance on alcohol and recreational drugs in these passing days and weeks after receiving his bad news becomes progressively worse. In one instance, he passes out and needs to be hospitalized because of his extreme intoxication. One redeeming quality in Richard, which surfaces, is that he is able to express warmth to his close family members and remaining friends after his bad news diagnosis, which he could not express in the past before his cancer diagnosis. He finally bonds with his daughter by accepting her coming out as a lesbian and manages to at least partially patch things up with his wife during a frenzied and spontaneous drug experimentation episode in their bedroom. The end, however, seems inevitable as Richard does not take on the doctor's option of using chemotherapy to extend his life by a single year, and Richard decides to leave his home and family on his final sabbatical leave, which has finally been approved by his college. Richard decides to take the less-traveled path on his own, in his car, and with his dog, in order not to be a burden upon his wife and daughter in his final months of life as his cancer rapidly progresses. Cast Production On May 8, 2017, it was announced that Johnny Depp would star in a comedy drama film Richard Says Goodbye as a college professor in the titular role, to be written and directed by Wayne Roberts following his debut film Katie Says Goodbye, which IM Global would be fully financing. Brian Kavanaugh Jones would produce the film through his Automatik Entertainment along with IM Global's Greg Shapiro. On July 20, 2017, Zoey Deutch was cast in the film to play one of the students of the professor. The rest of the main cast was announced on July 25, 2017, which included Danny Huston, Rosemarie DeWitt, Devon Terrell, and Odessa Young. It was reported that the film would be co-financed by IM Global and Cirrina Studios, with an additional financing by Leeding Media. Principal photography on the film began on July 25, 2017 in Vancouver. Release It had its world premiere at the Zurich Film Festival on October 5, 2018. Prior to that, Saban Films and DirecTV Cinema acquired distribution rights to the film. It was released on May 17, 2019. Reception The film received largely negative reviews from critics. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 10% based on 20 reviews, with an average rating of 4.85/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "A muddled story populated with thinly written characters and arranged around a misguided Johnny Depp performance, The Professor fails early and often." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 37 out of 100 based on 12 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". References External links Category:2018 films Category:2010s comedy-drama films Category:American films Category:American comedy-drama films Category:Films about cancer Category:Films set in universities and colleges Category:Films shot in Vancouver Category:IM Global films Category:Saban Films films