Beautifully made, tragically ruined

Rating: 3/10 (2 December 2007)

Beautifully made drama about a group of young private school boys who are challenged by their unorthodox English teacher to "seize the day" and "make their lives extraordinary".
Peter Weir's strong picture remains uplifting almost to the very end thanks to Robin Williams' solid performance and some superb acting from the young supporting cast, including Robert Sean Leonard, Ethan Hawke and Kurtwood Smith. Technically the film is impressive too, with very good Art Direction/Set Decoration and John Seale's superb cinematography.
Being youthful as they are, the lads take Mr. Keating's (Williams) sound doctrines a little too far as they begin to buck the system. And tragically the ending to the movie is a terrible miscalculation, being so depressing that it completely ruins this stirring motion picture, as it goes against the whole idea of the story - making the most of one's life.
Tuesday, October 5, 1993 - Video