An uneasy, but very likeable mix of DEAD POETS SOCIETY (1989) and AN OFFICER AND GENTLEMAN (1982) from usually assured director Penny Marshall has fine-as-usual Danny De Vito playing a business man who gets fired and has to work on a U.S. military camp teaching some not-so-bright cadets about, well, Shakespeare. Aside from being the most respectful, positive, naive portrayal of the U.S. Army in decades, this predictable, formulaic comedy mixes drama and humor unwisely, despite some appealing performances by the young actors, especially from Lillo Brancato, Jr., who played Robert De Niro's son in A BRONX TALE (1993) and spoofs him here, much-talking Kadeem Hardison and Richard T. Jones as the strongest. Also with sexy Stacey Dash, stupid bloke Mark Wahlberg, James Remar as captain and Gregory Hines as a light variation of Louis Gossett, Jr., from AN OFFICER... In the end, neither boring, nor successful movie with a healthy enthusiasm for Shakespeare's works.
Review of Renaissance Man
