A stunning and historically significant work of art.

Rating: 10/10 (26 November 2003)

I've actually seen complaints about this film that point out that it is not very funny. Oddly enough, the film isn't a comedy, so I'm surprised anyone would expect it to be funny. Dead Poets Society is a graceful and elegant melodrama centered around the coming of age of young prep school boys through the discovery of the souls of dead poets in their classic works.
Robin Williams injects much needed levity with bits that absolutely must have been ad-libbed as only he could. The Marlon Brando and John Wayne impressions are simply side-splitting. But it is in his dramatic moments you see that Williams range is far wider than the comedic fare for which he is known. In fact, it is those moments of cunning insight and biting wit that few actors can create where Williams' finest work lies. There is no shortage of such moments here.
This is not the typical kids acting like idiots in school lame groaner that most high school films are. It is intelligent and insightful, woven around disparate young men dangerously involved in the discovery of self. And dangerous it is, as discovery often reveals hidden conflict.
Robert Sean Leonard is simply stunning. His conflicted portrayal of a boy whose father's expectations are not aligned with his own dreams culminates in one of the most unforgettable scenes in the genre. Ethan Hawke is beautifully brittle as a young boy about to enter his own maturity.
If you don't have tears in your eyes at the final scene, you should be forbidden by law ever to watch another movie in your life. So many people live lives of quiet desperation, and if you ever had a teacher, or ever were that teacher, who encouraged young minds to seize the day, this is a film you will always treasure for the towering accomplishment it is.
Director Peter Weir litters the scenery with insider jokes and symbols present in all his films, and if you don't know them or get them, you won't miss a thing. His body of work is nonetheless historically significant, and this could be the jewel in his crown.