“Renaissance Man” Podcast Movie Review

By Daniel Barnes on August 14, 2018 • ( 1 Comment )

Renaissance Man (1994; Penny Marshall) – Dare Daniel Podcast Episode 14

“I’ve never taught before…and you’ve never thought before!”

Despite “struggling in the brain department,” Double D’s Daniel Barnes and Corky McDonnell scale Chekhov’s Victory Tower to review Penny Marshall’s career-killing 1994 military comedy Renaissance Man, starring the beloved comedy duo of Danny DeVito and Gregory Hines.

In a desperate attempt to manufacture any kind of stakes, the hosts discuss Burger King dates and patriotic Hamlet tests. Elsewhere, Daniel and Corky wonder where the film’s $40 million budget went, but they ultimately blame Rob Reiner for the entire thing.

RENAISSANCE MAN FACTS AND FIGURES

U.S. theatrical release date: June 3, 1994

Domestic box office: $24.3 million (production budget: ~$40 million)

Critics scores: 12 on Rotten Tomatoes; 44 on Metacritic

This week’s craft beer: Ale Industries‘ Enigma Gold Extra Brut IPA (7.35% ABV)

This week’s Darer: Mike Dub

Why did Mike Dub dare Daniel and Corky to watch this movie? “This is the movie that made Danny DeVito and Gregory Hines the most beloved comedy duo of the 1990s…that happened, right? Bonus (spoiler alert): teaching Shakespeare to young, poor, predominantly minority people by rapping!”

IMDB synopsis: “A failed businessman is hired by the army to teach a group of underachieving recruits in order to help them pass basic training.”

This week’s referenced movies: Big; A League of Their Own; Awakenings; Speed; The Flintstones; Maverick; Beverly Hills Cop III; North; The Player; Collateral Beauty; The Warriors; Can’t Stop the Music; Juice; A Bronx Tale; The Silence of the Lambs; Theodore Rex; Cape Fear; Dead Poets Society; Stand and Deliver; The Shawshank Redemption; Home Alone; Sister Act; Dangerous Minds; Bright