Rating: 
Summary: A Great Movie
Review: "Renaissance Man" is incredibly funny, but also sad at times. It gives off a good message. Not only are there the obvious morals taught in this great comedy, but you also learn three new words in it! Mark Wahlberg does an outstanding job in "Renaissance Man", also.
Rating:
Summary: One of a kind
Review: ... Everyone learns something in this movie. The viewer, maylearn something too. "Bill" learns to listen to the heart of his daughter, he learns that "knowledge brings sorrow". I know the movie verbatim. At the end when "New York" recites the "he who sheds his blood today with me shall be my brother......." almost makes me wanna join up!. Faith is basically what this movie is about. If it's too "fluff-filled" for some, then I don't know what to suggest..! END
Rating: 
Summary: A good comedy about learning "English"
Review: Being a non-native English speaker, I enjoyed the teacher's (Danny DeVito) making Shakespearean phrases and quotes understandable and interesting to the unmotivated youngsters in the boot camp. A previous reviewer wrote:"The concept of a necessary english teacher in the army is not actually sensible." To me we always need good English (E in upper case) teachers. A heart-warming comedy, yes. And I would hyphenate between "heart" and "warming" to make it a compound adjective. Current tendency of doing away with hyphens makes English more difficult to read for us "foreigners." "Foreigners," said Mark Twain, "always spell better than they pronounce."
Rating:
Summary: Renaissance Man in the Classroom
Review: Believe it or not, I've used *Renaissance Man* in the classroom for a couple of reasons. When we study the Renaissance in World History, our text makes reference to Leon Battista Alberti, the scholar and architect who, from a standing start and with his feet together, could leap over a man's head. The DeVito character, in his efforts to get his students interested in Shakespeare, makes reference to Alberti in one scene in the movie, so I couldn't resist showing that clip in my class. Then, since I taught the same students (high school freshmen) in English, I also showed all the clips related to the teaching of *Hamlet*. I've been patiently waiting for the DVD to come out so I won't have to do the slow "fast forwarding" and can just leap to the clips I want. The students usually get caught up in the characters as well, which is pure serendipity for me!
Rating:
Summary: Renaissance Man in the Classroom
Review: Believe it or not, I've used *Renaissance Man* in the classroom for a couple of reasons. When we study the Renaissance in World History, our text makes reference to Leon Battista Alberti, the scholar and architect who, from a standing start and with his feet together, could leap over a man's head. The DeVito character, in his efforts to get his students interested in Shakespeare, makes reference to Alberti in one scene in the movie, so I couldn't resist showing that clip in my class. Then, since I taught the same students (high school freshmen) in English, I also showed all the clips related to the teaching of *Hamlet*. I've been patiently waiting for the DVD to come out so I won't have to do the slow "fast forwarding" and can just leap to the clips I want. The students usually get caught up in the characters as well, which is pure serendipity for me!
Rating:
Summary: A moving motion picture
Review: Certainly not an Academy Award winner, but nevertheless a very moving story about a fired ad executive who is hired to teach a group of Army low-achievers. Danny DeVito shows a a great range of emotions in his role as the teacher. Perhaps the most moving part is the reciting of a scene from Shakespeare's "Henry V" by a soldier from the group while camping with his unit in the pouring rain. Certainly a better picture than the reviews would indicate, this highlights a man who is caught up in the thrill of seeing others learn as a result of his efforts as a teacher. A positive advertisement for both teaching and the U.S. Army.
Rating:
Summary: Genius Point
Review: Danny DeVito was perfect for his character as Bill Rago. The story is about an unemployed man who becomes a teacher in the Army to train eight iffy soldiers. DeVito's job is to teach his kids to comprehend. The thing is, if DeVito fails, that's it for these guys, they're out of the Army and out of a job. DeVito instructs the kids early in the film to bring something to read to class. Then a soldier asks DeVito what he was reading. He responds, "Hamlet." One of the soldiers then identifies the book as a story about a little bitty pig. But as anyone knows it is written by Shakespear. The kids show great interest in it. The film goes on and DeVito starts to bond with the kids he once hated. DeVito had been typecasted as a man who is halfway good/halfway bad due to his roll in "Taxi," but he shows his true acting talent here in this film. Rent it, it's a great movie.
Rating:
Summary: DANNY DEVITO'S GREATEST WORK!
Review: I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS FILM. IT IS PROBABLY ONE OF MY TOP FIVE ALL-TIME FAVORITES. WE HAVE THE PREMIUM CABLE CHANNELS AND EVERYTIME IT IS ON, MY HUSBAND AND I END UP WATCHING IT AND I CRY EACH TIME DURING SEVERAL OF THE SCENES. IT IS PROBABLY THE MOST TRIUMPHANT "FEEL-GOOD" MOVIE I'VE EVER SEEN. YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH EVERY ONE OF THE SUPPORTING CAST MEMBERS. HOW MANY MOVIES CAN YOU SAY THAT ABOUT? THE MOVIE HAS THE HEART OF SUCH MOVIES AS "AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN" AND "TO SIR WITH LOVE". IN RENAISSANCE MAN, THE STORY DOES NOT FOCUS ON THE ROMANCE BETWEEN A MAN AND A WOMAN, BUT RATHER THE ROMANCE BETWEEN A TEACHER AND HIS STUDENTS. I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT IT, AND I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!
Rating:
Summary: An all-time favorite
Review: I am not in the habit of buying videos to keep, but I had to buy this one. I'm sure I've seen it 10 times by now. Whoever said that Shakespeare is hard to read is not remembering that Shakespeare started out as drama for the masses, not for the literati of his day. This movie has been overlooked, which is a real shame. Definitely what you would call a sleeper. I never get tired of seeing it.
Rating:
Summary: Comedy plus Shakespeare
Review: I can't believe that only 10 people have wrote a review for "Renaissance Man." I thought it was a lot more popular than that and I know that it deserves all the praise and popularity that it can get! Bill Rago (Danny DeVito) takes a job as a teacher in the Army even though he doesn't have any teaching experience and doesn't really want the job. Yeah I agree that that does sound a little far fetched, but not all movies have to tell a true story! Bill doesn't exactly know what to teach about, so he just teaches the 'students' about something he really likes, the book, Hamlet. Will the army students enjoy learning about Hamlet or will they think it's boring? Will Bill Rago be a good teacher or a fluke? I recommend watching the movie to find out. I thought "Renaissance Man" was a great movie. Unlike what many people might think or might had heard about it previously, it's not really a full-fledged comedy movie. Danny DeVito is hilarious in the movie and the part that I'll remember the most from the whole movie is one of the funniest parts I've ever seen in any movie!! I couldn't quit laughing at the part where Danny DeVito got to the top of a tall place in the army, and he has to try and work his way down with a rope even though he's TERRIFIED of heights. "Renaissance Man" has a few other hilarious parts, but really when it all comes down to it, it's more of a drama movie and more of a feel-good movie than it is a comedy. Not that that's bad, but that's the only complaint I have whatsoever about the movie, it could've had a few more hilarious parts where more people would have given it rave reviews and remembered it the rest of their lives. However, it wasn't bad enough to take away any of my rating for it, so I still give it a 5. If you like great comedy/drama movies, I recommend getting "Renaissance Man." You'll laugh your head off and feel the drama at the same time.
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