Tragedy in art is good for the soul. It's a reminder that life is not completely under our control.
O (2001)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:123
Fresh:78
Rotten:45
Average Rating:6/10
Consensus: Though well-intentioned and serious in its exploration of teen violence, O is an uneven experiment that doesn't quite succeed.
Rated: R [See Full Rating] for violence, a scene of strong sexuality, language and drug use
Runtime: 1 hr 34 mins
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:Aug 31, 2001 Wide
Box Office: $15,540,020
Synopsis: A contemporary retelling of Othello, Shakespeare's timeless tale of treachery and jealousy, O will perhaps introduce a new audience to the genius of William Shakespeare and some of his most... A contemporary retelling of Othello, Shakespeare's timeless tale of treachery and jealousy, O will perhaps introduce a new audience to the genius of William Shakespeare and some of his most intriguing and tragic characters. Set in an elite private school located deep in the American South, Mekhi Phifer portrays NBA hopeful Odin James, the only black student at the school. Odin not only enjoys widespread popularity with the students, he is dating Desi Brable (Julia Stiles), the beautiful daughter of the Dean of Palmetto Grove Academy (John Heard). Odin's best friend, Hugo Goulding (Josh Hartnett), drawn closely from Shakespeare's nefarious Iago, is a starting forward on the basketball team, and the son of Coach Duke Goulding (Martin Sheen). Hugo has been asked by his father to look out for Odin because of the particular pressures facing him at Palmetto Grove. Yet Hugo is bitterly envious of Odin and the attention Odin receives from the coach and everyone else at school. An introspective and somewhat mysterious young man, Hugo seeks to manipulate those around him to his own private ends. Placed by his own father in the role of Odin confidante, Hugo is, in reality, seeking to destroy the very person he pretends to befriend. As the basketball season comes to a dramatic finish, conflict among the six friends escalates into irrevocable tragedy when Hugo executes a plan prompting Odin to throw away all that he cares about most- the woman he loves, his bright future, his very soul. -- © 2001 Lions Gate Films [More]
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Mekhi Phifer, Julia Stiles, John Heard
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Mekhi Phifer, Julia Stiles, John Heard, Eldon Henson, Andrew Keegan, Rain Phoenix, Martin Sheen, A.J. Johnson, Harold Shumate
Director: Tim Blake Nelson
Director: Tim Blake Nelson
Screenwriter: Brad Kaaya
Producer: Daniel Fried, Eric Gitter
Composer: Jeff Danna
Studio: Lions Gate Films
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Reviews for O
On your already groaning Shakespeare for Teens video shelf, stack this one above 10 Things I Hate About You ... and quite a bit below Romeo + Juliet.
Othello's themes of jealousy, betrayal, and deception are particularly applicable to the realm of pampered American adolescence
This is a movie that holds your interest, but doesn't do anything with it.
It's a doomy dirge of a movie, in which the protagonists, or at least the actors who play them, aren't equipped to handle their outsize passions.
The vernacular of today's teens is a poor substitute for Shakespearean verse, and shorn of that language the plot, the characters and their motivations seem fairly uncompelling -- even foolish.
If nothing else, it makes a good intro to the play for high school English classes.
Instead of banning things like this, we should be showing them; a movie like O could teach us all a lesson in humanity.
This is a serious exploration of prejudice, jealousy, bullying and youth violence, yet it's R-rated which, ironically, rather defeats its purpose.
For the most part ... O respects its young characters and potential viewers.
As unflinchingly honest as any so-called 'teen' film to come out in ages...one of the most thought-provoking motion pictures of the year.
O may not be a classic adaptation, but it works a lot better than it should have.
It's certainly a good stepping-stone for generating discussions about teen violence that it thankfully and smartly doesn't glorify.
This film should be commended for its willingness to discuss the controversial and for creating a contemporary and fairly believable version of Othello.
A worthy, well-acted attempt to transform Shakespeare's Othello into a tragic touchstone for modern teens.
This intelligent, well-paced film rendition forgoes the Elizabethan verse, while capturing the disturbing essence and gripping plot of Shakespeare's classic tragedy.
A tale of teen violence takes on qualities of timelessness and universality it would not otherwise possess, while the Othello story leaps out from the screen with a rare immediacy.
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