Review of Dead Poets Society (1989) by Harry W — 28 Mar 2013

Dead Poets Society is good because of it's realistic examination of tightly wound private school students, and because Robin Williams is just impossible to dislike.

Dead Poets Society deals with the underside of several teenage boys' issues with the uptightness of private schools and family life, and it doesn't throw in bullsh*t about determination to impress parents because in the end, it's just about getting through high school and having a blast on the way, and in a more formal fashion we see male students embracing poetry as a way to do that, so it's a sophisticated tale that even deals with rebellion. And the characters are all too likeable, portrayed by talented juvenile actors such as the young Ethan Hawke, and they just portray the teenage boys so well.

And diverting away from them is an excellent performance from Robin Williams, and even though I wouldn't call it a lead role because his character's legacy spreads over more of the running time than Robin Williams himself, his character is just all too likeable. I mean, he's the one teacher that ever continued with the passion all of them decide to go into teaching for, to inspire as well as teach. And really, he teaches more with his inspiration than he could from any class lesson, and this extends beyond the mere film because its such a strong passion that more-or-less is reflective of Robin Williams' passion for acting which earned him an Academy Award nomination for his role in Dead Poets Society.

I'm sure that it suffered at toxic buzz at the time of its release, and so the standard may be unimpressive for some from the generation in which Dead Poets Society was produced, but the simple fact is that Peter Weir directed a great film and its surprising that it reaches me like it would someone more familiar with 1989 and the sudden dramatic turn of Robin Williams.

Carpe Diem all the way!