Introduction

Renaissance Man is a 1994 American comedy film directed by Penny Marshall, and stars Danny DeVito, Gregory Hines, James Remar and Cliff Robertson. In Australia, the film is known under the title of Army Intelligence.

Outline

Bill Rago (Danny DeVito) is a divorced advertising executive down on his luck. When he loses his job in Detroit, the unemployment agency finds him a temporary job: teaching basic literacy classes at a nearby US Army training base, Fort McClane.

Initially unenthusiastic, Rago finds that he has only six weeks to teach a group of DD’s – ‘Dumb Dawgs’, the basics of comprehension and use of English language. Most of the soldiers are only semi-literate and equally unenthusiastic.

Unable to connect with his pupils and desperate to spark their interest, Rago quotes from his favorite play, Hamlet by William Shakespeare. They are unfamiliar with it (or even the concept of a “play”) and a small initial spark of interest is generated. He casts each student as a character in a classroom reading, then takes everyone on a field trip across the Blue Water Bridge to Stratford, Ontario, Canada, to a live performance by Shakespearean actors. He introduces them to Shakespeare’s Henry V as well.

In the meantime he takes steps to mend bridges with his daughter by buying her an airline ticket to Mexico – as well as buying her a Newtonian Telescope – so that she can start on the path to becoming a professional astronomer.

Despite the disapproval of their hard-as-nails Drill Sergeant Cass (Gregory Hines), and the loss of one of the trainees, Pvt. Hobbs (Khalil Kain), who is revealed as a drug dealer hiding under an assumed identity, Rago sets an end-of-term oral examination. Even the friendly Captain Murdoch (James Remar) in charge of the project does not expect the soldiers to pass Rago’s class, adding that if they fail, they will be discharged from the Army.

Hobbs writes a letter to Rago and Murdoch, whose letters to the prison warden may result in him getting an early parole. Hobbs says he read Othello in the prison library (the librarian said he was the first inmate in 16 years to request Shakespeare) and was thinking about taking college classes once he’s released.

While on duty, on a dare from Cass in front of other men, one of the soldiers recites the St. Crispin’s Day Speech by King Henry V while in full combat gear in the middle of a rainstorm during a night exercise; the speech moves even the hardened Sergeant Cass. The students then all pass Rago’s class, with flying colours.

Rago meets and dates Marie (Isabella Hofmann), a soldier in the records department, who helps him do some investigation before the base’s graduation ceremony. It results in one of his students being presented with the Silver Star medal his father was to have been awarded posthumously, after he was killed in Vietnam.

As the proud soldiers march at their graduation parade, Rago is saluted by his “graduates”. He signs on to continue teaching soldiers-in-training.

Trivia & Goofs

• The scenes at the fictional “Fort McClane” were actually filmed at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.
• The production trailers were set up alongside the barracks on “Tank Hill”.
• During the filming, countless soldiers were filmed doing P.T. (physical training) and B.R.M. (basic rifle marksmanship), and the graduation scene of the film was shot during numerous takes of an actual basic training graduation.
• In one of these scenes Geoff Ramsey can be seen doing jumping jacks.
• The scene of Danny DeVito on a pay phone was shot at a phone bank that countless soldiers have used to call home during basic training.
• The scenes of DeVito going over the bridge from Detroit to Canada are actually him driving over the Blue Water Bridge in Sarnia, Point Edward, Ontario and Port Huron, Michigan.

Production & Filming Details

• Director: Penny Marshall.
• Producers: Sara Colleton, Elliot Abbot, Penny Marshall, Robert Greenhut, and Andrew G. Vajna.
• Writer: Jim Burnstein.
• Music: Hans Zimmer.
• Cinematography: Adam Greenberg.
• Editor: George Bowers.
• Production: Touchstone Pictures, Parkway Productions, and Cinergi Pictures.
• Distributor: Buena Vista Pictures.
• Release Date: 03 June 1994 (US).
• Running Time: 128 minutes.
• Country: US.
• Language: English.

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