Dead Poets Society is a film that is intended to inspire, provoke thought, and bring a combination of humor and drama to the audience while pushing a non-conformist ideology at the core of the story. For the most part this works well. It is entertaining and blends the genres of comedy and drama quite admirably, creating a broad target audience. What it doesn't do is grip its audience's attention throughout the whole movie. The variety of characters, philosophies, and film styles vary to the point of abandoning the bulk of the audience in favor of a different target from scene to scene.
             Robin Williams gives one of his most convincing and restrained film performances to date by effectively muting his compulsion to jump from one shtick to another and playing a single character instead of his usual compilation of personalities. While his screen time is actually quite limited, he does a credible job at making the viewer believe that he is the unconventional teacher who motivates the students to actually think for themselves rather than have their knowledge, beliefs, and personal philosophies spoon-fed to them via textbooks and professorial rhetoric. One of Williams' most endearing personality traits, overwhelming compassion, is found in this character beneath the anarchistic persona that is Robin Williams the entertainer.
             Despite the credits above the movie artwork's title, this film is not about Robin Williams as John Keating. This movie is about the boys. Three of the main characters played by Ethan Hawke, Robert Sean Leonard, and Gale Hansen have the most distinct personalities of the other students. Ethan Hawke plays the quiet, aspiring writer who serves as the anchor of normality for the audience, while Robert Sean Leonard and Gale Hansen portray polar opposites of passion. Gale Hansen plays a beatnik who is obsessed with a local girl and is one of the main advocates for Keating's non-co
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