Dead Poets Society

3 ½ pipes out of 4

Find yourself and have your own identity. That is the message of the Dead Poets Society. Robin Williams does a wonderful job as an English teacher in one of his few non comedies. From what I heard from friends and critics it was supposed to be an uplifting film but it was much more depressing than I had anticipated. The film follows a group of young boys who are enrolled in prep school who are charged by their exuberant new English teacher John Keating (Robin Williams) to “Carpe Diem”, seize the day and make their lives extraordinary instead of conforming. The boys take this charge to hart and form group known as the Dead Poets Society where they socialize and let poetry flow through them until issues arise. The question now is do they stick together or abandon all that Keating had been trying to teach them? This is a very emotionally charged drama with the restrictions of private school and of family expectations raining down on the boys. There were a few problems I had with it for there is a love story that includes one of the boys but it is completely kicked to the curb and forgotten when big issue arises. Now I know that it would have been difficult, maybe even callous for the director to tear away from the issue and go back to a love story but he should have thought of that before he even put the plotline in the movie. Other than that I liked it, even with the surprise depressing ending, it ads character and realism.