Renaissance Man (1994)

A down-on-his-luck businessman desperately takes the only job offered - a teacher in the U.S. Army. His mission: keep a ragtag bunch of underachieving misfits from flunking out of basic ... See full summary »

Director:

Penny Marshall

Writer:

Jim Burnstein

Stars:

Danny DeVito, Gregory Hines, James Remar

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Danny DeVito	...	Bill Rago
Gregory Hines	...	Sergeant Cass
James Remar	...	Captain Tom Murdoch
Ed Begley Jr.	...	Jack Markin
Lillo Brancato	...	Pvt. Donnie Benitez (as Lillo Brancato Jr.)
Stacey Dash	...	Pvt. Miranda Myers
Kadeem Hardison	...	Pvt. Jamaal Montgomery
Richard T. Jones	...	Pvt. Jackson Leroy
Khalil Kain	...	Pvt. Roosevelt Nathaniel Hobbs
Peter Simmons	...	Pvt. Brian Davis, Jr.
Gregory Sporleder	...	Pvt. Melvin (as Greg Sporleder)
Mark Wahlberg	...	Pvt. Tommy Lee Haywood
Cliff Robertson	...	Colonel James
Ben Wright	...	Private Oswald
Ann Cusack	...	Bill's Secretary

Storyline

A down-on-his-luck businessman desperately takes the only job offered - a teacher in the U.S. Army. His mission: keep a ragtag bunch of underachieving misfits from flunking out of basic training! Be on alert as this unlikely new teacher and his underdog class unexpectedly inspire each other to be all they can be!

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Plot Keywords:

teacher | u.s. army | army | basic training | advertising | 

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Taglines:

There's only one man big enough to take them on...

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 June 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

By the Book

Filming Locations:

Detroit, Michigan, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$24,332,324 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinergi Pictures Entertainment, Parkway Productions, Touchstone Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

128 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The writer, Jim Burnstein, and his family can be seen behind Danny DeVito when Bill Rago and his daughter are at the Tigers game. To the right of Mr. Burnstein are his son Gabe, daughter Devon and his wife. Usually Mr. Burnstein and Gabe are the only ones visible on screen.

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Goofs

The underlining under "OXYMORON" changes between when Bill first writes it and when he explains it to Montgomery.

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Quotes

Melvin: I ain't never gonna hit my kids.

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Connections

References Scarface (1983)

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Soundtracks

"WASHINGTON POST MARCH"
Performed by The 282nd Army Band

User Reviews

Truly nice, for the heartwarmer crowd

Army recruits categorized as, shall we say, neither the best nor brightest, but they somehow get turned on when reluctant teacher DeVito reads Shakespeare's Hamlet to them and it hits a chord. The high point of the film is reached when one of those recites on command his "irrelevant" Shakespeare on a rainy night's drill to Sergeant Gregory Hines and finds in his memory from "Henry V" (with lead-in not at hand) "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers. For he today that sheds his blood with me, Shall be my brother." This is a truly nice movie, about heroes but not about touting war. At a later point, my usually stoic wife shed some tears. Danny De Vito is surprising to me. He generally leaps over my expectations, no matter how far I raise them up.