O (2001)
Country: US
Technical: col 95m
Director: Tim Blake Nelson
Cast: Mekhi Phifer, Martin Sheen, Josh Hartnett, Julia Stiles, John Heard
Synopsis:
American high school version of Othello, with the protagonists as basketball jocks.
Review:
On the heels of Ten Things I Hate About Her, came this 'not as bad as you might think' modernisation. The main test of these things is whether they can survive with the Shakespeare taken out of them, and at first we seem to be onto a non-starter: it's not the bard's best plot and as the familiar mechanics turn their wheels one finds oneself waiting for the next kinetic basketball sequence; at least Desdemona is not a cheerleader. But then history takes a turn in its favour, for the release had to be delayed after the Columbine school shootings and the final bloodbath, which might have seemed hard to swallow in its melodrama, now has an aura of tragic farce as Hugo's ruthless plan goes horribly wrong. Kids do shoot each other in American schools and they do care largely about image and status; all of which makes this quite an effective little picture in some ways, and a tiresome retread shorn of acting charisma in others. (One exception is Sheen's energetic turn as the incandescent coach.)
Country: US
Technical: col 95m
Director: Tim Blake Nelson
Cast: Mekhi Phifer, Martin Sheen, Josh Hartnett, Julia Stiles, John Heard
Synopsis:
American high school version of Othello, with the protagonists as basketball jocks.
Review:
On the heels of Ten Things I Hate About Her, came this 'not as bad as you might think' modernisation. The main test of these things is whether they can survive with the Shakespeare taken out of them, and at first we seem to be onto a non-starter: it's not the bard's best plot and as the familiar mechanics turn their wheels one finds oneself waiting for the next kinetic basketball sequence; at least Desdemona is not a cheerleader. But then history takes a turn in its favour, for the release had to be delayed after the Columbine school shootings and the final bloodbath, which might have seemed hard to swallow in its melodrama, now has an aura of tragic farce as Hugo's ruthless plan goes horribly wrong. Kids do shoot each other in American schools and they do care largely about image and status; all of which makes this quite an effective little picture in some ways, and a tiresome retread shorn of acting charisma in others. (One exception is Sheen's energetic turn as the incandescent coach.)
Country: US
Technical: col 95m
Director: Tim Blake Nelson
Cast: Mekhi Phifer, Martin Sheen, Josh Hartnett, Julia Stiles, John Heard
Synopsis:
American high school version of Othello, with the protagonists as basketball jocks.
Review:
On the heels of Ten Things I Hate About Her, came this 'not as bad as you might think' modernisation. The main test of these things is whether they can survive with the Shakespeare taken out of them, and at first we seem to be onto a non-starter: it's not the bard's best plot and as the familiar mechanics turn their wheels one finds oneself waiting for the next kinetic basketball sequence; at least Desdemona is not a cheerleader. But then history takes a turn in its favour, for the release had to be delayed after the Columbine school shootings and the final bloodbath, which might have seemed hard to swallow in its melodrama, now has an aura of tragic farce as Hugo's ruthless plan goes horribly wrong. Kids do shoot each other in American schools and they do care largely about image and status; all of which makes this quite an effective little picture in some ways, and a tiresome retread shorn of acting charisma in others. (One exception is Sheen's energetic turn as the incandescent coach.)