Review of Dead of Winter (1987) by Potarto72 — 21 Dec 2014

There are two sides to Dead Poets Society ,and one of them makes me want to call it one of the greatest films ever made. The other makes it seem shallow and unimportant.

Robin Williams gives a good performance as the teacher who liberates the students, and teaches them to stand up to authority, but sometimes the direction of the film forces him to do his typical comedy routine, when that type of humor has no place in this film. Sometimes the film is just too stereotypical and cliche to appreciate properly, and other times it does an excellent job conveying a message we haven't all seen before. So if there's such a balance of good and bad, why the high rating?

The ending of this film brings a tragedy, which I won't spoil. It is this tragedy, this unexpected, shocking, unusually brutal tragedy that makes Dead Poets Society more than just another Robin Williams comedy. It becomes an echo of the cry for help from American teenagers, and embodies that desperation, that struggle so brilliantly that I have to love this film. Regardless of its shortcomings and cliches early on, it takes such a drastic measure to burn its message in the viewers mind that it sets itself far apart from the image it has on the surface. The film's climax truly pushes it over the edge towards greatness.