Rating: 
Summary: Good movie
Review: I would just like to say that this is one great movie. very funny but yet has a touch of emotion. Very good cast which includes Danny Devito at his best. I still remember where he says in the movie, "The choices we make, dictate the life we lead, to thy ownself be true." Make this movie one of your choices and you won't regret it.
Rating:
Summary: Good positive comedy with ideas of life we could do with.
Review: I've seen this movie several times and never grew tired of it. It just contains some elements of life that I find positive and would be happy to see more of. The movie is entertaining and makes me feel good all over. If that's not what I want from a movie, than what is? I'd recommend this to anyone. In fact, I'm recommending it to someone I know who's going to use the same ideas to teach English to the children in Hong Kong.
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Summary: Renn Man is a story within a story...
Review: Like these others, I find it amazing that people don't see the value in this movie. Bill Rago takes folks who can't see their own value, and by challenging them to see the truths in other lives (specifically the characters in Hamlet and Henry V), opens the world of opportunity. I have seen this over 10 times, and the bivouac scene where Benetez quotes the St. Crispin Day speech, about warriors and the brotherhood between them, never fails to make me tear up. These "DD" squad members, whom everyone, including their drill sergeant, thinks are losers, understand the real meaning of shared experience. And so will you, if you watch this film.
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Summary: A Shakespeare Lover's Companion in Odd Ways
Review: Renaissance Man is the Hamlet or Shakespeare lover's companion. Not only is it a good movie with a great plot, it includes major themes and characters of Hamlet connected to unlikely modern comparisons spread out in a different fashion. The movie includes interpretations of the play Hamlet itself, as well as, a three minute rap that is an Ode to Hamlet and a short excerpt from the play Henry V. The movie also combines a great overall message that no matter how little you have or are given you can succeed in life. It also shows that no matter how much others put you down, if you believe in yourself, you have the potential for greatness. Other ironies include Mark Wahlburg playing a non-homeboy hick that cannot keep a beat. Overall it is a great movie with great connections and wonderful, heartfelt messages. Any lover of Shakespeare must see this movie!
Rating: 
Summary: Not what it appears to be.
Review: The thing that makes "Renaissance Man" a less-than-worthy film is its overly long running time. Throughout the movie, one gets the notion that there is a lot of good underlying material that is just bursting to break free, but never gets a chance to. The laughs are there, but there don't seem to be nearly enough of them to keep it a comedy. By the movie's end, it seems more like a weird combination of morals and laughs mixed into an army storyline whose characters never fully express the message of the film. Bill Rego is a highly successful advertising businessman whose recent divorce has left him broke, down on his luck, and late to work everyday. After being fired from his job, he is forced to take many trips to the unemployment office, where his conversations with the clerk, while aiming for comedy, seem to be forced and unenjoyable for both actors. By this point in the movie, I was trying so hard to try and find something funny to laugh at, and maybe that's the movie's problem: we are forced to look for the laughs instead of having them look for us. His job hunt takes him to an army base, where he is given the assignment of teaching a group of trainees who have apparently scoring big in the underachievment category. I really wish that the movie would have elaborated more on exactly why they were in that position in the first place. They are all seen in the fields doing their things with their guns and running in place, so why does the chief of headquarters see it fit to place them in the classroom with a man who has no experience as a teacher? The students are just as blind ot the answer as we are. Rego has no idea what to teach them, or how to react to them. Each of the students comes from a different area of the country, each being a stereotype of a different social circle in the areas they lived in. When they all stand up and deliver a speech about their background, this seems to be a sign that the movie is going to get better, but don't count on it. From here on out, Rego preaches the verses of Shakespeare's "Hamlet" to them, supposedly insighting them with lyrical phrases and expanding their minds. And how exactly is this supposed to help them when they're out on the fields, practicing the art of war? The whole "Hamlet" angle is just one of the many contrivances of the movie's plot, which seems to jump from comedy to drama within minute-long periods. It goes through an identity crisis, so to speak, of trying to decide which one it wants to be, and in the end ends up being neither. There are some genuine laughs that will tickle your fancy, and Danny Devito certainly does a goos job in trying to bring the story a sense of lightheartedness, but this is one of those bad movies that happens to good actors, and he is unable to keep it from flopping. It's a slight surprise to see that the director of this film is Penny Marshall, whose past films such as "A League of Their Own" and "Big" each contained a healthy balance of drama and comedy. Here, she seems to want to give it to us in increments, not wanting us to forget that this is not just a comedy, but a drama as well, and vice versa. It's as if she's forcing this fact down our throats through the movie, and this makes it almost painstaking to watch. While there are some laughs, "Renaissance Man" falls into the category of films that have a lot going for it, but never make it off the ground. There are too many nonessential elements within the film that keep it from obtaining a good combination of the ones we really want to see, and it seems to drag on longer than it needs to.
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Summary: ona tha best movies ive seen
Review: this movie is ona tha best ive seen. my sister loves mark wahlberg, soshe wanted it, but i didn't really think it sounded good, but when i saw it, it was amazing. tha comedy is really funny, and it's not a story that is imposible to believe, it is pretty realistic, and if u don't think it sounds good, just get it for mark wahlberg, he's so hot in it!
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Summary: Renaissance Man: Excellent Life Lessons!
Review: This movie is so fantastic. It is deep, yet humorous. It teaches so many lessons of life. Buy it and watch it often to remind yourself of those lessons that we should never forget. Definitely a realistic, feel good movie that holds your attention the whole time. Spectacular performance by Danny DeVito.
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Summary: Inspiring
Review: This movie was nearly as good as "Dead Poets Society." I am glad to be inspired by another movie that shows how effective education can be. Danny DeVito touched my heart as he turned "illiterate" soldiers on to great literature in a down-to-earth way, surrounded by the rigid military protocol. I also enjoyed the story of the father/daughter relationship in which the father wakes up to his daughter's beauty, and comes around to support her individuality.
Rating: 
Summary: What a joke!
Review: When I first saw the cover, of this movie, I had my reservations of why I should not have seen this movie; and unfortunately, all my preconceived notions came true. The plot is just unbelievable. The plot centers on a gentleman (whom has a marketing degree) that ends up teaching a bunch of obtuse and slow-witted students to comprehend Shakespeare. This is just too far-fetched. Most people have a hard time reading Shakespeare and to believe that this group could comprehend this form of high literature is pure fiction. Shakespeare is the thinking mans author and writes for the well-educated mind; something these kids lack. The Shakespeare Rap was pure blasphemy; to take the well-written word of this genius and to make it into a cheesy rap song was just too much and proved that they really did not comprehend the story at all.
Rating:
Summary: Almost all it could be...
Review: which really isn't a bad thing at all. "Renaissance Man" does a pretty good job of depicting military basic training with a few laugh-out-loud scenes along the way -- especially the "sniff-n-git" approach to chow time (what great memories!). I especially liked Gregory Hines' character (Drill Sergeant Cass) emphasizing the daunting task of transforming civilians into soldiers capable of saving lives in combat. Sergeant Cass and Bill Rago may come from entirely different perspectives, but, like one of the primary goals of military basic training, the two men realize they're on the same team and gradually develop a respect for each other's duty. I also liked the scene where Private Benitez, who does a dead-on Jake LaMotta impression throughout the movie, presents a moving soliloquy from Henry V during his company's bivouac ("on St. Crispin's Day"). Mark Wahlberg (who I suppose graduated basic training and moved on to "Three Kings"!), the lovely Stacey Dash (who isn't given enough to do) and the wonderfully restrained Richard T. Jones (Private Jackson Leroy) round out a solid cast. A few minor things prevent this from being a 5-star movie (I actually give it 4 1/2 stars): 1) I felt sorry for the soldier (Private Hobbs) who was busted for his past history of selling drugs -- but hey, he didn't seem too sorry about it when he got caught, did he? At least he was trying to better himself in the slammer... 2) The "white boys ain't got no rhythm" crack is pretty played out (even if it is true). 3) I was disappointed not to find "United", the track played during the closing credits, on the soundtrack. Great song! Last item -- they way the movie ended, it sort of left the door open for a follow-up of some sort. Was there a TV series made of this (I've been overseas for a LONG time!) Hope someone can answer this in a future review.
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