Superficial

Rating: 3/10 (16 April 2007)

This is a unique film, in that it is a Robin Williams movie where Robin Williams is not the biggest problem with it. The problem is the script, which treats poetry the way a Hallmark employee would treat it: a resource to exploit for some cheap sentimentality. "Carpe diem, kids! That's what every poem is about. Every poem ever. Hell, now that you know that, why even read a whole poem? Let's just yell out some lines that I've chosen for you while we play sports. If anyone contradicts me, we'll just rip his page out of the textbook." Ha, the best is when Keating is commenting on the poem of one of his students, and says something like: "You've hit on one of the major themes of poetry: love!" Really, teach? LOVE is one of the major themes of POETRY? Where do you get those amazing facts? Way to earn that paycheck.
Then, of course, the plot has only one function, which is to lead us to the moment of truth, when Keating is unfairly forced out and the kids scuff up the furniture for him. This must mean that the plot doesn't really stand up on its own. Every adult but Keating is a tyrant, including all the other teachers. But if they all hate progressive education so much, why the hell did they hire this guy? And it's been said before, but the suicide is ridiculously out of character and is meaningful only as a plot device. Wouldn't someone like Neil raid his dad's safe and hitchhike to New York or something instead of taking his own life? Oh, but that wouldn't give the school a reason to fire Keating. It's like the screenwriter imagined the final scene and then wrote the movie backwards.
This movie is about as deep as a movie of the week. Don't be fooled by the hype.