A marvelously inspiring story with one of Robin Williams' best performances

Rating: 8/10 (13 November 2014)

DEAD POETS SOCIETY is an incredibly moving film by Peter Weir about life at a boys prep school. It stars Robin Williams as John Keating, an English teacher, with Robert Sean Leonard and Ethan Hawke as two of the core group of students. I went into this film knowing a little about the plot from various clips on the internet, e.g., the famous "Oh captain, my captain" line. I was also aware about the fate of a character, although I didn't know which one until watching it. I was generally very impressed with the film, and Robin Williams' performance in particular. The story is one that had the potential to be very clichéd and overly sentimental, but the themes discussed within were approached earnestly and backed up with some great performances. Robin Williams is especially great as the English teacher, whose unique worldview (at least in the stodgy prep school environment) and unconventional teaching methods inspire the boys to make the most of their lives and dare to break the mold. The film follows several of these boys who are inspired to "seize the day" in various ways. Robert Sean Leonard's character pursues his dream of acting and another character, Knox Overstreet, pursues a girl that he loves despite the threat of her boyfriend finding out. Together, the boys bring back a poetry reading group originally started by Keating, called the "Dead Poets Society" (hence, the title of the film). This wasn't actually the point of the film, but more of a jumping-off point. The wonder of the film is to see how the boys develop and change for the better under Keating's influence. I can't say enough how much I loved the message. That being said, there are a couple of areas worth talking about which aren't as great. One of them is that given the large cast of characters, more time could have been spent developing them, although what's there was adequate. There is also a climactic scene which, while still handled tastefully, felt a little emotionally manipulative. Overall, this has to be the best of Robin Williams' dramatic roles that I've seen so far. It's an engaging, thought-provoking and moving film about making the most of your life, even if the setting is a bit overused. Highly recommended.