Released: June 9, 1989
Director: Peter Weir
*****
The movie which launched at least two catchphrases into the national zeitgeist ("O Captain, My Captain" and "Carpe Diem") at times plays like a sappy Lifetime movie, utilizing obvious camera shots and just plain missing other necessary shots...but it still comes off as one hell of a movie nearly 20 years after it's first release.
John Keating (Robin Williams) is a poetry teacher at a private and very conservative prep school. His students range from rebel Charlie Dalton to classic geek Steven Meeks to all around good guy Neil Perry and his new, quiet roommate, Todd Anderson. The more Keating challenges them to open their minds, the more a select group of students takes what he says to heart. Neil has a longing to disobey his father; Todd comes out of his shell; Knox Overstreet confronts his feelings for a girl...and more. His unconventional teaching style comes under fire, predictably, leading to a defiant and ultimately satisfying conclusion.
1989 must have been the year for low key films at the Oscars. This movie, Born on the Fourth of July, Driving Miss Daisy, Field of Dreams and My Left Foot competed for the top prize (it ultimately went to Daisy). What is unique about this film is the acting talent involved. Aside from Williams-who was nominated for an Oscar-Robert Sean Leonard, Ethan Hawke, Josh Charles, Norman Llyod, Kurtwood Smith and a very young Lara Flynn Boyle all turn in performances so nuanced you forget these kids are just that: basically kids.
Dead Poets Society has turned into a mini-cult film, most likely, for one reason: the ability of the audience to identify with every single character. Who hasn't ever rebelled against a parent figure or tried to do the right thing by everybody...been scared of being the new guy or had the weight of the world on their shoulders? Despite a rushed conclusion in which too many leaps of logic are taken to hang Keating, this is an underrated gem. For those who haven't seen it, the film isn't flashy or preachy, even. There is a wholesome moral, but it never gets shoved down our throats. It creeps upon us little by little until, at the very end, we want to take the same actions the students do.