Its interesting and entertaining but never brilliant

Rating: 8/10 (2 December 2003)

My Rating: *** out of ****.
Dead Poets Society is a good film but it was swept up by the academy. This is one of those times where the academy nominates something that is undeserving. Dead Poets Society was nominated for four academy awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Robin Williams), and Best Original Screenplay. Out of those four, one of them may have been deserving.

The acting is solid throughout the film. Robin Williams gives a solid, convincing performance as John Keating. Yet, even know he is good here he did not deserve a nomination for Best Actor. For one thing, the performance is nothing amazing and he actually does not have a whole lot of screentime.

The best acting comes from the supporting players, who are the kids in the school. The best performance comes from Ethan Hawke. He gives an excellent portrayal as a shy, unassured teenager. The rest of the acting from the teenagers is all solid.
The Dead Poet Society is always interesting and entertaining but it never striked me as brilliant. Its a well written movie and it has its share of good moments but never really rises above. The movie does look great visually. The Cinematography is excellent. A Peter Weir movie (the director) always looks great.
However, the Dead Poets Sociey has flaws. Was it ever really necessary to have a subplot about them going into the Dead Poets Society? That subplot seemed really pointless. Also, there was a scene when one of the kids commits suicide. The music seemed somewhat pretentious during this moment. As did some of the shots. Why did the camera focus on the Dads slippers then? Whats the significance? Peter Weir has been accused of being pretentious at times and that whole moment seemed pretentious. Peter Weir has done better (Witness, Master and Commander).
Even with its flaws, I still liked Dead Poets Society. It was overrated by the academy but that does not make it a bad movie. Its a good film, its just not great.