Dead Poets Society

Am I the only person who misses Robin Williams so much? If you watch a lot of William's movies, you'll find that a lot of his characters are very similar and they tend to follow the same trope. They're dreamers who see ways the work can get done in a way that is most unorthodox. You see it in Patch Adams, you see it in Good Morning Vietnam, and you see it in Dead Poets Society.

Dead Poets Society takes place in 1959 at a private all boys school called Welton. The school prides itself on being one of the top private academies to teach boys how to be men and become successful doctors and lawyers. The story mainly follows the semester of a group of young men. There's Neal (played by Robert Sean Leonard), who's parents have high expectations for him and expect him to go to law school. You've got Todd (played by Ethan Hawke) whose brother went to Welton and was the valedictorian so he has a lot of expectations laid upon him. And then there's Knox (played by Josh Charles) who falls for a girl who is currently dating a joke from a public school not far. These boys are hard workers and have a lot of expectations set upon them. But their lives change very quickly when a new professor comes to Welton.

Enter John Keating (played by Robin Williams) who has a very unorthodox teaching method and really turns the worlds of the boys in his class upside down.

On one of the first days, Keating actually has his class rip out pages of the text book about poetry and encourages them to feel rather than quantify their lives.

Basically, Keating starts giving them a liberal arts education. I say this because I've been in a class like this where the topic is something like English but the things that are taught are more focused on developing the students into free thinking individuals. That's exactly what happens in Dead Poet's Society. Instead of focusing on the quantifiable ways to rate poems, Keating pushes the boys to write their own poetry and seize the day.

The funny thing is it's actually hard to watch this movie after watching this episode of Community because their parody of Robin Williams played by John Michael Higgin's character is actually spot on and hilarious.

There are a couple of moments in the movie where you actually kind of wonder what the hell they're actually learning in this class. And again, it really goes back to the free thinking liberal arts education that for some people it works well and for others it doesn't.

And of course it's not the way the professors of Welton seeing teaching should be and they do not approve of Keatings "MOST UNORTHODOX" method of teaching.

But that doesn't really stop him as he introduces them to a club that he was in when he attended Welton called The Dead Poet's Society.

The boys decide to start the club back up again and the rest of the film is very much a coming of age story as these young boys find out who they are as people utilizing the teachings of this out of the box thinking teacher.

And it's done pretty well.

This movie was made in 1989 and if you watch a lot of movies or watch House, you're going to find a lot of familiar faces besides Robin Williams and not only will you recognize them, you'll be surprised how young they look in this film. I was just saying in my review of Boyhood how young Ethan Hawke looked back in the early 2000s, try looking at him in one of this first big breakout roles.

And the movie is mainly focused on these kids. Yes Williams has a pretty big role and I will talk about his role and his performance in a little bit, but the kids are front and center for 80 percent of the film.

They do a really good job creating this environment for these kids that seems very serious to them but not making it over dramatic or life or death scenarios... well... for the most part.

Without getting into spoilers, there's a tragedy near the end of the movie that I kind of rolled my eyes at. Without giving too much away, one of the boys wants to pursue the opportunities that come with poetry, art and acting, and that goes directly against the wishes of his parents who expect him to learn the orthodox way and do exactly what is expected of him.

The clash of these opinions between him and his parents does come to a climax and I'm gonna be honest, I think they may have delved into the ridiculous and over dramatic area near the end of the film.

And I wouldn't be too bothered by it if it wasn't kind of the climax of the film. The rest of the film is filled with a lot of good moments, especially just looking at kids growing up and trying to meet the expectations of their parents while still following their passions, I just thought the ending gets a little dramatic.

And of course there is Robin Williams.

Now I mentioned at the start of this review that Williams tends to play very similar roles of the dreamer who bucks the establishment. And yes, that's pretty much what he does in this film. But by god is he not phenomenal at that role.

Like I understand why he keeps getting roles like that because he is such a strong actor and when he plays these roles there is so much passion and love for his characters that it's a little heartbreaking watching it and figuring out such a powerhouse of an entertainer is no longer with us.

I don't think it's Williams strongest performance, but in comparison with other great performances like Good Will Hunting and Good Morning Vietnam, that's a high bar to clear and even a lesser performance than those movies is still really good in my mind.

As I mentioned before, he's not really the center of the movie but he is for sure a strong presence in the film and he drives the movie.

Now I thought for a long time that I had actually seen all of this movie at one point when I was in high school. But watching it now I realize that I actually hadn't seen all of it.

I had see the big parts of the movie like the scene where Williams leads them out to look at the pictures of former Welton alumni and whispers Carpe Diem. In short, I've watched enough to get the meta references that poke fun at this movie.

But that's one of the strengths of this film. There are moments in this movie that are just iconic and really stick out because they are just that good.

I will say not all the scenes in the movie are like that and like I said, they do kind of jump the shark in a way by going in the realm of over dramatic scenes, but overall, it's a really great story about breaking with conformity and going off to do what you are passionate about. Perhaps it's a millennial movie because I feel a lot of this movie speaks to a generation like mine. But it's definitely one that deserves to be talked about, even though I'm not sure it is as much anymore.

I recommend going out and seeing Dead Poets Society if you haven't and if you have, I don't think it would be a horrible thing to have this movie come back. The important part is finding the balance between pursuing your dreams and living in a reality, but this is a movie that can remind us of the dreamers in all of us.

But those are my thoughts. What did you think? A part of me is wondering if this movie is a little bit too pie in the sky, but overall it's charming to me. Do you think so too? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @cmhaugen24 as well as send me your requests for films I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

I'll leave you with this. Along with the Seize the Day teacher from Community, I really can't help but think of this clip when I think of Dead Poets Society. But if you're looking for something a little less silly, here's a rare interview about Robin Williams and his casting in Dead Poets Society, it's kind of heart warming. Enjoy!