Bill Rago (Danny DeVito) is a big-time ad man who loses his job when his tardiness at a meeting costs his company a multi-million dollar ad campaign. Bill is fired and finds that handling the unemployment line is even more difficult than advertising. Eventually Bill finds a job as a teacher at Ft. McClane Army Base. Sergeant Cass (Gregory Hines) assigns Bill to teach English. But Bill must teach English to the most educationally-challenged soldiers including Tommy Lee Haywood (Mark Wahlberg) so that they can graduate. Bill has never taught before and still longs for advertising. The soldiers disparage Bill for being a civilian. Before long, Bill settles on introducing Shakespeare's "Hamlet" and "Henry V" to the class who take a liking to the material and eventually to Bill giving him the respect and personal fulfillment he lacked in the advertising world.