a nod to my youth

the film was piece of nostalgia, a throwback to the chagrin of my teens. i first saw dead poets society when i was 15, in a cinema near our high school. it was the kind of film that ignites our dreams and hopes for gorgeous and dashing gentlemen of the weary harlequin paperbacks of our youth. set in a preppy secondary boarding school for boys, the story was about a teacher named john keating (robin williams) and his students. it co-starred ethan hawke, robert sean leonard and other young actors in which whom a fan has to seek long and hard to find out what happened to them since 1989.

the most pivotal character in the flick was neil perry played by robert sean leonard. ethan hawke was todd anderson, neil's highly-pensive roommate. in the years to follow, i would gasp, ethan hawke was in dead poets society? which one was he? the preppy with the backbone, was charlie dalton portrayed by gale hansen, whom according to the imdb's, now works as a creative consultant in the entrtainment industry. all the others, from josh charles who essayed knox overstreet, the sweet fella who fell for the blond dream to the young actors with the smaller roles, may not have become as well-known as ethan hawke or as active as norman lloyd, the guy who portrayed the school's headmaster, but would always be remembered for this piece of poetic cinema.

these days, i see robert sean leonard in house. in the intervening years, he was claudio opposite kate beckinsale's hero in much ado about nothing, daniel day lewis' son in the age of innocence and he toiled a tony-award winning broadway performance in tom stoppard's the invention of love in which we wouldn't have known existed unless new york is a nearby location and waiting and plodding through several acts in a play ignites a brewing passion.

robin williams received an academy award nomination as best lead actor in this peter weir drama. but i will always remember this flick for the cute guys. i know it's superficial but true.