“The Professor” (*** out of four) was a rewarding melodrama about an overly controlled college professor (Johnny Depp) who realizes he has terminal cancer and then decides to live his life with reckless abandon regardless of its consequences and then gradually begins to have the looming realization that his life is about to come to an end. Depp’s first-rate (and entertaining) performance highlights this unexpectedly moving and funny film. Uneven at times, with a few scenes that seem unnecessary, but still one of Depp’s best performances and films in years, and an interesting addition to his gallery of eccentric characters.