Renaissance Man Movie Review 1994

Skeptical new teacher inspires a classroom of underachievers and finds his true calling. Based loosely on the experiences of screenwriter Burnstein at a base in Michigan. Civilian Bill Rago (DeVito) is an unemployed ad exec assigned to teach Shakespeare to a group of borderline Army recruits led by Hardison. Add half a bone for the recruits and their Hamlet rap, a breath of fresh air in an otherwise stale plot. Some funny moments, reminiscent of "Stripes," but not quite as wacky. On the other hand, Marshall does endearing well. Look for rapper Marky Mark with his shirt on (hard to recognize). Shot with the cooperation of the Army.

Distribution

Buena Vista Home Entertainment, 500 S. Buena Vista St., Burbank, CA 91521-1120, Toll-free: 800-723-4763, URL: http://www.bvhe.com

Available on VHS
Running time 128 minutes.

Cast and Crew

Genres

School Daze, Military Comedy, Dedicated Teachers, Team Efforts, Advertising, Detroit, Military School

Screenplay

Jim Burnstein, Ned Mauldin

Cast

Danny DeVito, Gregory Hines, James Remar, Stacey Dash, Ed Begley, Mark Wahlberg, Lillo Brancato, Kadeem Hardison, Richard T. Jones, Khalil Kain, Peter Simmons, Jenifer Lewis

Director

Penny Marshall

Music

Hans Zimmer

Other

Cliff Robertson

Producer

Penny Marshall, Robert Greenhut, Elliot Abbott, Sara Colleton, Cinergi Productions, Parkway Productions, Touchstone Pictures, Buena Vista