Peter Weir directs Robin Williams, Robert Sean Leonard and Ethan Hawke in this period boarding school drama where an inspiring teacher faces down conformity with his mad improv skills.

Dead Poets Society is a handsome little flick from one of my favourite directors. The reputation and box office success of the thing would have you think it is a modern classic. Weir adds a sense of the timeless mythic to the visuals. Caves. Mists. Hooded midnight meetings. There’s no arguing with that iconic ending. “O Captain! My Captain!” Williams is boss if a little incongruous. His funniest moments are also the most wildly anachronistic. Yet there’s a problem of POV here. Too much focus is on the interchangeable lacklustre milk boys. If you are into preppy teen honkies then this is damn near pornography. Yet the minor rebellions and mercilessly repressive villainy of the older generation just don’t click for me. As an adult, DPS is pure of heart and hopeful yet no longer all that impactful.

7

Perfect Double Bill: Good Will Hunting (1997)

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