Beautiful and interesting

Rating: 9/10 (5 November 2003)

'Dead Poets Society' is a beautiful movie from start to finish. The movie tells the story of a new English teacher, Mr. Keating (Robin Williams), who is a lot different than other teachers. He wants the students to think for themselves although other teachers disagree with this vision. They think a boy that is 17 years old is not able to think for himself. You can imagine how the story develops; the students like Mr. Keating, the other teachers don't.
Mr. Keating teaches poetry to the students, and inspires some of them to do things they never thought they would do. Neil Perry (Robert Sean Leonard) discovers that his real passion is acting, and Todd Anderson (Ethan Hawke) learns he can do a lot more than he thought he could. There is also a story line involving a student named Knox Overstreet (Josh Charles) who is in love with a girl and because of Mr. Keating he tries to win her over. Of course things can't go right and some tragic events happen. I will not reveal them here. May be they are not very surprising but they do have an impact.
Robin Williams as the smart and funny teacher has one of his finest roles here. He is known as a funny guy, but as in 'Good Will Hunting' he finds the perfect way for this part. The students are all very good as well, especially Robert Sean Leonard and Gale Hansen, who plays a guy named Charlie Dalton. The fine direction by Peter Weir completes this very beautiful and interesting movie.