Dead Poets Society (1989)

Movies about teenagers have always been difficult for me to evaluate because I'm pretty far removed from the intended audience. The topics and issues that these teen-centered films focus on are usually not relevant to me anymore, and yet the messages might extremely important to the younger crowd. It's even more difficult for me to evaluate a teen movie that I saw when I fit the intended demographic yet have watched again as an adult as well. This is the case with the 1989 Peter Weir film Dead Poets Society.

Dead Poets Society is set on the campus of a prestigious, private all-boys boarding school. The school is known for the strict discipline enforced by teachers and for the rigorous honor code upheld by students. The boys are expected to do what they are told and not to question authority.

All of that changes with the arrival of Mr. Keating, played by Robin Williams. Keating, himself a former graduate of the school, is a free spirit and has unconventional ways of teaching English. These include having the boys stand on their desks to get a different view of their surroundings, telling them to rip out pages from their text book, conducting classes outside in the courtyard, and above all else encouraging the boys to "seize the day."

Keating's methods raise eyebrows among the school administrators, but they don't have anyone to replace Keating, so they let him do his thing (for the most part). Keating gets through to several of the boys, including Neil (Robert Sean Leonard), Todd (Ethan Hawke), Charlie (Gale Hansen), Knox (Josh Charles), and Cameron (Dylan Kussman). Keating inspires them to revive the Dead Poets Society, a secret club that meets in a cave after curfew in order to recite poetry.

Neil is particularly motivated by Keating's encouragement to seize the day, and he decides to follow his dream of being an actor by trying out for the community's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. He is so good that he wins the lead role and seems truly happy and excited for once. But his father has other plans. He wants Neil to be a doctor, and that means Neil must study and work on the yearbook staff. No other activities are allowed. Neil's father demands that he quit the play and Neil grudgingly agrees to do so.

Then tragedy strikes (I won't reveal what happens), and the rest of the film deals with the aftermath of the sudden blow.

I distinctly remember loving this movie when I was in high school. I wished that I had a teacher like Mr. Keating and vowed that I would always follow my dreams no matter what my parents or anyone else said. I thought the film was powerful and moving, especially the final scene involving the Todd Anderson character. It felt like a very strong movie from beginning to end.

But after a recent viewing as an adult, I'm having trouble recognizing all the "merits" that I thought I saw in this film as a teenager. First of all, there were some minor plots (for example, the romance betweeen Knox and the rich girl) that probably shouldn't have even been there at all. In fact, I thought the whole Dead Poets Society subplot was unnecessary and existed merely to give the film an interesting title. Second, seeing the film through my adult eyes, I felt that the plot was extremely cliched and contrived. I saw that there really wasn't much substance at all to the Keating character and I discovered just how many things about the movie didn't make sense. Plus, I felt that the last scene was highly manipulative and not the touching moment that I had always thought it was before. In other words, I think Dead Poets Society is an average movie at best for adults. Whether today's teenagers would find it inspiring or simply dated is something that I can't answer.

Overall, I would not recommend watching Dead Poets Society. It's not entertaining, it's not exactly a family movie, and it's not something that adults would find inspiring. There aren't even any strong acting performances to redeem the film (though Ethan Hawke as Todd does come close). Just save your money and rent something else!