I've always liked Danny Devito and he is such a consummate professional that he makes this film look easy which of course it's not. It's friendly and engaging and a feel good movie. You know what you get with Danny, so just settle down and soak up the laughs.

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.

"The choices you make dictate the life you lead. "To thine own self be true."

I remember first time I had watched Renaissance Man. I was twelve years old, I knew somewhat about the military, Shakespeare, and illiteracy so even though I was a little to dumb to understand what the movie was about it did peak my interest enough to revisit it a numerous amount of times since. I have to say this is Penny Marshal's most underrated film.

Bill Rago (Danny Devito) is a recently fired and divorced advertising agent who is given a job at a nearby Army Base by an unemployment agency. Rago, with no teaching degree and not wanting to be there, must find a way to help eight underachieving army recruits pass basic training. When the students become interested in a play Rago is reading he soon begins to explain why Hamlet is the greatest thing every written.

As each of the eight students become interested in Hamlet, Mr. Rago becomes interested in them, helping the students become ideal candidates. Before the remaining students can graduate though they must pass Mr. Rago's test if they choose to take it. In the end Mr. Rago finds love and respect from his students, the drill instructors, his daughter and even a new woman.

Although Renaissance Man is not a popular film I guarantee you it is a better and more dramatic film then those that followed (Major Payne, Sgt. Bilko). Danny Devito can do no wrong, this isn't the best character he's played but he certainly outshines the rest of the cast which includes Gregory Hines, James Remar, Stacey Dash, Kadeem Hardison and Marky Mark (Mark Wahlberg). The movie is wonderfully written by Jim Burnstein who's only other notable writing credit includes D3: The Mighty Ducks.

If you're in the mood to revisit a classic do yourself a favor and make it RENAISSANCE MAN. Trust me you'll like it.