Josh Hartnett and Mekhi Phifer in "O."

MOVIE INFORMATION

With 10 as a must-see, Jack gives this film a: Stars: Mekhi Phifer, Julia Stiles and Josh Hartnett Director: Tim Blake Nelson Rated: R, with strong violence and implied sex Length: 91 minutes

ROCHESTERCRITIQUE

Having seen this film, how would you rate it? 10 5 9 4 8 3 7 2 6 1

By Jack Garner
Democrat and Chronicle

(August 31, 2001) -- If William Shakespeare were alive today, would he write a teen tragedy about envy and jealousy among high school athletes and girlfriends?

That's what Tim Blake Nelson attempts with the film O, placing the tragedy of Othello among high schoolers in a Southern prep school of today.

After a long delay -- prompted by the Columbine horror and other violent school incidents -- this tale of deadly violence on a prep school campus is finally at theaters.

And though flawed, O deserves to be seen, both for the conversation it should spark about the causes of violence and for the connection it makes to a classic play.

Mekhi Phifer stars as Odin James, the star of the school's undefeated basketball team. Nicknamed "O," he's this version's Othello; his status as the only black student keeps alive the play's subtext of racism.

Josh Hartnett (of Pearl Harbor) is O's teammate and close friend Hugo (read: Iago), who envies O's stardom at school. It doesn't help that Hugo's father, the basketball coach, professes to love Odin like his own son. As the coach, Martin Sheen lends the film key gravitas.

Odin's girlfriend is Desi (read: Desdemona), the dean's attractive daughter. She's played with restrained grace by Julia Stiles, who has developed a cottage industry appearing in modern Shakespeare interpretations: Ten Things I Hate About You (a modern Taming of the Shrew) and Ethan Hawke's Hamlet.

Unlike that Hamlet and the 1996 Romeo & Juliet (with Leonardo DiCaprio), O ignores Shakespeare's language and explores envy and jealousy in modern teen language.

A noted Shakespeare scholar once wrote that Othello without the poetry would be just a tawdry melodrama. Nonetheless, O succeeds in showing that envy and jealousy are universal and timeless.

In O, Hugo stirs up trouble by suggesting that Desi is cheating on Odin with a classmate. (The planted handkerchief from the original play doesn't translate to modern times as effectively as other aspects of the tale.)

Jealousy starts to bubble in O, resulting first in accusations and fights, and eventually in guns and murder.

Along the way, the three central characters effectively echo the Shakespearean originals and embody troubled modern adolescents.

However, a few supporting players are implausible pawns in Hugo's evil scheme. Hugo's girlfriend (Rain Phoenix) plays a part in Desi's downfall -- with that darn handkerchief -- but her motivation is never clear. Nor do we understand why Hugo's wealthy roommate (Elden Henson) allows himself to be so obviously used to ensnare Odin.

With such confusion -- and without that great poetry -- O is tawdry and melodramatic.

Nonetheless, O offers an authentic if offbeat interpretation of classic Shakespeare (and might be especially useful for filmgoers if it's followed by a viewing of a traditional Othello film -- preferably the Orson Welles version -- or a reading of the play).

Viewed simply as teen drama, it offers talented young actors in potent roles, a few well-played and well-shot basketball sequences, and an ultimately unnerving portrait of adolescent jealousy gone very wrong.