The year is 1959. Several boys are beginning their junior year of the all-boys, preparatory boarding school, Welton Academy. One of them, Todd Anderson, is assigned a roommate, Neil Perry, who is a top student. They both become friends with some other students: Knox Overstreet, Richard Cameron, Charlie Dalton, Steven Meeks, and Gerard Pitts.

The next day, the boys have several classes together. One of them is an English class taught by a new teacher, Mr. John Keaton. He has unconventional teaching methods.

Mr. Keating first lectures about the boys in the same class 100 years before. Then he gives all the students a poetry textbook, but has them rip out the introduction. He makes his curriculum more unique and even a little more exciting.

After learning that Mr. Keating belonged to a club called, “The Dead Poets Society,” when he was a student at Welton, Neil wants to learn more about it. Mr. Keating tells him and his friends. But he demands that they keep it secret.

Neil restarts the secret club. He and his friends sneak out at night to a nearby cave and read poetry.

Later, Knox visits a girl named Chris Noel. He has strong feelings for her. But she is dating another boy from the local public school, Chet Danburry.

Neil discovers his passion for acting and tries out for the local theater performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. However, his dad disapproves of any extracurricular activities. He demands that Neil quits the play.

The Dead Poets Society also gets in trouble when Charlie publishes a secret poem in the school newspaper. The school even holds an assembly about it.

Things are only getting worse…

There are several aspects that I admire about this movie. One is the portrayal of a fancy boarding school. I enjoyed learning about life there.

The characters’ relationships with each other were also strong and memorable. I loved the main boys’ friendship with one another as well as with Mr. Keating. I also liked hating Neil’s father since he was overly unfair and overbearing.

The pacing of this film was also fast, although it was a little bit hard to follow sometimes. But that was not a major issue.

Another flaw I had with this movie was trying to tell the boys apart. I know it’s common for private schools to make boys wear their hair the same length. But the filmmakers could have found a way to make the actors look more distinguishable, but still depict a prep school believably.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed Dead Poets Society. The plot was well-executed and the tension levels remained high enough. There were also a lot of twists and turns.

Note that even though this film is rated PG, it is not for younger kids. It has smoking and foul language, thus is more like a PG-13 rated movie. I think it is best suited for those ages 13 and up.

I give Dead Poets Society 4 out of 5 stars.