Just Saw "Dead Poets Society" -- Didn't Like it Too Much

[liberalpragmatist]

WARNING: PLOT SPOILERS

I believe I'm in the minority on this one. Most people I know love this movie, and I've read reviews on Amazon.com that seem the same way.

I like the movie. It is engaging and somewhat touching. But I feel that it's overrated and that many elements in the story aren't sufficiently developed. Robin William's Mr. Keating isn't even in the story much, for he's limited mostly to the background, confined to just a few scenes. The students don't actually gain any wisdom about poetry. They just learn the phrase "carpe diem" and learn to be free-thinkers. But there's no real wisdom they learn from the poems, no love of poetry.

The story also picks up what could be an interesting exchange when it has a short dialogue between Keating and another teacher who's sympathetic to Keating but disagrees with the idea that teenagers can be good free-thinkers. Had this been developed more and carried throughout the movie, it could have been excellent, but it's just dropped.

The romance between one boy and the girl of his dreams is juvenile and nauseating. Plus, it distracts from the rest of the story and ends abruptly without resolution.

What actually annoyed me most was the climax of the story. The suicide of Neal Perry was shocking and dramatic, but it felt like it never had much development. We realized that Neal felt stifled by his father and we understood that he was unhappy, but the script, I felt, never really developed the fact that Neal was suicidal. What's more, the suicide wasn't really necessary b/c it mudied the film's message. Though it intended to show how stifling a person's freewill could be destructive, it simultaneously seemed to prove the pt that young persons were not able to be free thinkers. Had this been the primary strand in the story, it could have been more affective, but it just seemed calculated to make people sad and create conflict.

The film could either have dropped the suicide and dealt with Neal overcoming his father's opposition, and, in doing so, being more consistent in message, or it could have developed Neal's unhappiness and suicidal nature and his relationship with his father more to make the suicide more effective. The film seemed unfocused in its message and inconsistent. Nobody else seemed to agree with me :)

[frogfromthenorth2]

1. MOST OVERATED MOVIE EVER imo.....

eom

[sweetheart]

2. i din't like it neither

... i remember noting it on films i don't want to see again.

Robin william's emotional nature turns me off... i liked him better high on coke in mork and mindy.

[mitchum]

3. stay away from any Williams movie...

with the exception of "Moscow on the Hudson" and maybe "The Survivors"

[devilgrrl]

4. That movie sucked ass...

One of the absolute worst movies I've ever seen! :puke:

[frogfromthenorth2]

5. You see... You are not alone...

:-)

[NightTrain]

6. I saw it in 1989 and loved it.

Not sure what I'd think of it now, though.

[mr blur]

7. I agree with you.

Seemed like the most awful wishy-washy waffle to me. Plus, most of the characters were one-deminsional and Williams' character was just nauseating (as is often the case)