oOoBarracuda 2001 saw yet another Shakespeare adaptation starring Julia Stiles. Tim Blake Nelson directed Stiles, Mekhi Phifer, and Josh Hartnett in the prep school version of Othello. Tough coaching and the emergence of star Odin James has lead the Hawks to a winning season and led to a season of disappointment for the coaches overshadowed son, Hugo. Isolation takes center stage in this modern-day adaptation of a Shakespeare classic.Odin James (Mekhi Phifer), star basketball player of the Hawks, is a standout as a black athlete in his predominately white prep school. The world is his oyster as the Hawks keep winning, he is dating the most popular girl in school, Desi (Julia Stiles), the headmaster's daughter, and is being scouted to play professional basketball. to top it all off, Odin is then named M.V.P. of the basketball team. Odin decides to share this honor with Michael (Andrew Keegan). Feeling overshadowed on the honor he feels deserving of; driven by envy at the declaration of love his basketball coach father Coach Duke Goulding (Martin Sheen) expresses for Odin, Hugo (Josh Hartnett) Stages an elaborate scheme to bring about the demise of the star. Creating an elaborate scheme involving the manipulation of everyone around him, Hugo sets out to bring Odin's life crashing down.The music was a central actor in this film. Playing on the racial divide within the school, the lyrics of the songs used highlight the critical racial issues playing out on-screen. As always, my favorite part of any Shakespeare adaptation is the allusions to the original, or other Shakespeare works in the film. In O, Shakespeare was being taught in literature class, and Hugo was often seen playing chess, as referenced in the play. The acting was pretty well-done considering the young cast, and I found the story engaging and exciting. Overall, I thought this was a great modern-day adaptation of Shakespeare's work.

annbreuer Not a good adaptation of "Othello" or a good movie, period. It's short at 90 minutes, but probably 30 mins is footage of mediocre high school basketball. Boring. The script is bad, although it is pretty funny to see a bunch of privileged white characters at a stuffy and prestigious prep school deliver their lines in awkward street slang. Worse, someone made the poor choice to explain away Iago's (renamed "Hugo" in this adaptation) motive for persecuting Othello (renamed "Odin") as simple jealously due to Hugo's father's preferential treatment of Odin. This is a major deviation from the spirit of the play, where Iago is certainly jealous of Othello but also has a deeper animus that he explicitly refuses to explain, arguably making him one of Shakespeare's most evil and enigmatic villains. The portrayals of O and Desdemona are OK, but they don't rescue this movie. Also, there is a very disturbing sex scene.

the_last_galerian This movie had potential to be good. Instead of Othello being the military captain of Venice, he's the star player on a basketball team named Odin. Okay, acceptable, and a sweet name. Michael (Cassio) is invited to share in Odin's VIP award instead of Hugo (Iago), which makes him angry, and he plans to break Odin and Dessy (Dezzy? Desi? Whatever, Desdemona) with Roger (Roderigo). This is typical, this is what I expected: not creative whatsoever, but still acceptable. Unfortunately, they ruined it by trying very hard to make it "edgy". If you are like me and hated 10 Things I Hate About You, you will hate this movie more. The insufferable Julia Stiles is back as Desi and ruins yet another perfectly good Shakespearian character. Desdemona is supposed to be sweet and innocent, not another Godforsaken feminist nuisance. Hugo is boring, typical "my parents don't pay attention to me at home cut cut cut" r-tard who does drugs and swears. Michael is an incredibly unlikable wimp. Emily is weirdly ugly and looks about forty years old and has negative personality. The only, and I repeat ONLY, good thing in this entire movie is Odin. His acting is pretty decent, he is very emotional, and his facial expressions are excellent. At least there was one good actor in this movie. The problem is the horrible jumping from scene to scene every ten seconds, which is more annoying than it sounds, and all the characters' initial charm in the play is completely gone. I find myself looking forward to everyone getting murdered because they are all so unlikable. ESPECIALLY Desi. Stiles is probably the worst actress to ever exist, and the fact that she is constantly given the same stupid roles to play only emphasize that fact. However, when Desdemona is supposed to tell her father that she loves Othello, she simply says "We've been dating for four months daaaad GAWD it's none of your business even though I'm sleeping with him and greet him by taking my clothes off ever since we started dating". She doesn't even LOOK at Odin in the movie, it makes the audience feel like their relationship is purely physical. In short, all the characters were ruined except Odin/Othello, the acting is atrocious, they screwed up the story, and almost ruined the entire play for me like The Taming of the Shrew was prior to this. Avoid this garbage at all costs.

Hancock_the_Superb Odin James (Mekhi Phifer) is the only black student at Palmetto Grove, a private school in the Deep South. He is the star of the basketball team, is dating Desi (Julia Stiles) daughter of the school's dean, and is loved by teachers, coaches, and students. All that is, except Hugo (Josh Hartnett), the insanely jealous son of the basketball coach (Martin Sheen). Enlisting the help of hopeless outcast Rodger (Elden Hanson) and his girlfriend Emily (Rain Phoenix), Hugo launches a convoluted scheme to destroy Odin's life, convincing him that Desi is cheating on him and also turning him against best friend Mike Cassio (Andrew Keegan). Odin's jealousy eventually gets the better of him, and a tragic conclusion becomes inevitable.Adapting Shakespeare for teens is a process that generally strikes me as intellectual masturbation or pompous self-importance. The themes of Shakespeare's plays are so universal and more importantly oft-copied that claiming descent from Shakespeare seems like a desperate attempt to add class to an otherwise typical film. Luhrman's "Romeo+Juliet" was a loud, flashy mess, redeemed only by its lead actors. "Ten Things I Hate About You" and "She's the Man" were disposable fun but more or less interchangeable with any number of other teen flicks, and in any case bearing only tertiary relation with their source material. I'm not impressed with "She's the Man" claiming descent from "Twelfth Night" because its basic story has been done five million times since.However, O stands above these films, despite a few notable flaws, namely the ending. Tim Blake Nelson adapts what is (in my opinion) Shakespeare's greatest tragedy Othello into a modern setting with surprising skill, keeping the spirit and themes of the play intact and even adding additional layers to it.Shakespeare's play is as much about the villainous Iago as it Othello. Despite his wickedness, Iago is a sympathetic character; he is clearly a tormented man with inner demons he doesn't know how to face. In this film, Hugo has additional motivation beyond merely being passed over for promotion (or acknowledgment as MVP). His father barely acknowledges his existence, while embracing Odin as "the son I never had". As despicable as Hugo's actions are, it's easy to see what would drive him to such extremes.Also added is an exploration high school caste system. Usually dealt with in a truncated and comic fashion, it is devastatingly portrayed here. Rodger, Hugo's accomplice, is the son of one of the school's contributors, but also a geek who is beat up and picked on by pretty much everyone. There is a painful scene where Cassio torments him at a basketball game until he leaves. Hugo's alienation from his team mates is also a major factor, and it's easy to see why many people thought of Columbine when the film was released. People cast out by society are likely to their revenge, and this film shows that with devastating effect.Perhaps inevitably, the movie gives more weight to Odin's race than the source material did. The film features several sex scenes, including a disturbing one at mid-point where Odin's jealous begins to take hold in the middle of coitus - a scene that is both disturbing and effective. Odin is a model student, a great player, and liked by almost everyone in spite of his race, and yet as Hugo's scheme begins he begins reverting to stereotypes - he does drugs, is violent and moody, and at the end is driven to murderous rage. Odin is a victim as much of his own demons as Hugo, and the movie does an excellent job showing that.The biggest problem with the film is the end. Although abbreviated, the movie does a good job following the original text, and the film is perfectly paced. Until the climax. The decision to reduce the last two acts into a brief montage scene was a mistake, and ruined the pacing of the film. Odin's monologue at the end justifying his actions would have been more powerful if the movie hadn't just leaped into it.The cast is uniformly solid. Mekhi Phifer is powerful as Odin; his portrayal of Odin as a victim of his own insecurities is spot-on, and he is a thoroughly believable character throughout. Josh Hartnett, whom I've never rated as much of an actor, surprised me with a powerful performance as the treacherous Hugo. Julia Stiles' part as Desi is underwritten but Stiles cannot be faulted for that, and as always her performance is top-notch. Andrew Keegan, Rain Phoenix, and Elden Hanson also create memorable characters. Martin Sheen and John Heard are effective as the two most prominent adult cast members.Despite the ending, "O" is definitely the best of the teen adaptations of Shakespeare. The spirit of the original play is kept intact, and the characters are adapted well into a modern context. Definitely worth a look.7/10