Dead Poets Society

Robin Williams toned down his usually manic comic approach in this successful period drama. In 1959, the Welton Academy is a staid but well-respected prep school where education is a pragmatic and rather dull affair. Several of the students, however, have their thoughts on the learning process (and life itself) changed when a new teacher comes to the school. John Keating (Williams) is an unconventional educator who tears chapters of his textbooks and asks his students to stand on their desks to see the world from a new angle. Keating introduces his students to poetry, and his free-thinking attitude and the liberating philosophies of the authors he introduces to his class have a profound effect on his students, especially Todd (Ethan Hawke), who would like to be a writer; Neil ( Robert Sean Leonard), who dreams of being an actor, despite the objections of his father; Knox (Josh Charles), a hopeless romantic; Steven (Allelon Ruggiero), an intellectual who learns to use his heart as well as his head; Charlie (Gale Hansen), who begins to lose his blasé attitude; unconventional Gerard (James Waterston); and practical Richard (Dylan Kussman). Keating urges his students to seize the day and live their lives boldly; but when this philosophy leads to an unexpected tragedy, headmaster Mr. Nolan (Norman Lloyd) fires Keating, and his students leap to his defense. Dead Poets Society was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Williams; it won one, for Tom Schulman's original screenplay.

AMG Review: A film that rams carpe diem down your throat, Peter Weir's Dead Poets Society had a strong popular following that vaulted it to an Oscar nomination for Best Picture in 1989. Its beautifully shot prep school milieu and generally strong acting, including a virtuoso performance by Robin Williams, give it the feel of a precursor to the Miramax empire, but the film's emotionally manipulative core is a serious detractor. After the students spend plenty of time pretentiously running about in caves and wallowing in pseudo-intellectualism, one of them misapplies Williams' message in a manner that can only be described as a wild overreaction to his plight, blatantly designed to jerk tears. In this way, the film moves perniciously from a shallow, if pleasing, inspirational piece to a maudlin tragedy. Because the film is so skillfully highbrow at presenting its coming-of-age story, which has the effect of rewarding the audience's intelligence, many viewers loved Weir's film, making it something of a minor classic to certain devoted fans. No doubt it is rich with atmosphere, thanks in large part to John Seale's masterful cinematography, and buoyed by energetic young talent. But a closer reading reveals deep flaws, which ultimately render it a simplistic and exaggerated message-movie rather than a work of emotional or intellectual complexity.