DEAD POETS SOCIETY. Directed by Peter Weir; written by Tom Schulman, produced by Steven Haft, Paul Junger Witt and Tony Thomas for Touchstone. Starriny Robin Williams and Robert Sean Leonard. Rated PG.
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Dead Poets Society is a finely crafted, beautifully acted fable about coming of age from an intellectual perspective rather than on a purely physical level. It's set in a more innocent, almost remote time period (1959) but it deals with themes of universal meaning and emotional impact. It's a winner, a must-see for moviegoers teenaged and up.
Fans of Robin Williams, though, need to understand going in that Dead Poets Society is unlike anything he's ever done before. It's not a one-man-show, like many of his movies have been, but a true ensemble picture. And, although there are humorous moments, Williams' role, and the movie as a whole, is definitely dramatic.
Williams plays John Keating, a new English teacher at an ultra-traditional boys' boarding school. Intellectually as well as physically confined and repressed by the school's strict code, the group of older boys we get to know responds enthusiastically to Keating's unorthodox teaching methods. During the course of the movie, they learn about spontaneity, creativity and responsibility.
Except for Keating's unusual approach to teaching (he encourages his students to stand up on his desk, for example, to get a new perspective on the world), he plays straight by the rules. The natural conflicts within him between discipline and independence make for a nicely complex role, and Williams does an impressive job with it.
The boys, played by a group of little-known actors, are wonderful. Leonard has the biggest part as Neil, a natural leader who is cheerful and happy-go-lucky except when confronting his uncompromising father (Kurtwood Smith, the villian in Robocop).
Ethan Hawke is appealing as Todd, Neil's shy roommate. One of my favorites is Josh Chandler as Knox, hopelessly in love with a public school football player's girlfriend.
Director Weir's movies (Gallipoli, Witness, Mosquito Coast, to name a few) have always been both beautiful and interesting, full of meaty ideas and memorable imagery. Dead Poets Society is no exception. It's one of his best.
June 28, 1989