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 | |
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Peter Simmons | ... | Pvt. Brian Davis, Jr. |
Gregory Sporleder | ... | Pvt. Melvin (as Greg Sporleder) | |
Mark Wahlberg | ... | Pvt. Tommy Lee Haywood | |
Cliff Robertson | ... | Colonel James | |
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Ben Wright | ... | Private Oswald |
Ann Cusack | ... | Bill's Secretary |
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! Written by Anonymous
What a polarity of opinions on this one! It's either love it or hate it time. Put me definitely in the camp of this movie's admirers and supporters. I noticed that many of this film's fans were from all over: Texas, Canada, Scotland, Brooklyn, Australia, and Paris! Many noticed the similarity to Dead Poets Society as did I. Other movies it could be compared to are Mr. Holland's Opus and Konrack, and the more recent French film, The Chorus, movies in which other teachers too are celebrated for enriching the lives and spirits of their students. I think your Parisian correspondent sums it up the best: to see fine art working its way into the psyches of those previously unaware of it and to see people growing in spirit as a result of their exposure to and interactivity with it: that's what makes this story such a treat and an inspiration. It's what makes being a teacher worthwhile and justified. It moved and touched me. I had a personal connection to this movie's plot line as well: I knew a teacher who used to go into inner city schools and also taught the kids Shakespeare, especially the old-fashioned swear words the author used in the plays! Quite successfully too. Also, I grew up in Detroit so I appreciated the opening of the film set on familiar streets of the Motor City. A beautiful and touching film. None of the film's critics or supporters commented on the plot line in which the teacher recovered the true history of his recruit's father's unrecognized heroism. That was beautiful too. Go see this film and be inspired.