O Review
by Eugene Novikov (lordeugene_98 AT yahoo DOT com)September 25th, 2001
O (2001)
Reviewed by Eugene Novikov
http://www.ultimate-movie.com/
"All my life, I've always wanted to fly."
Starring Josh Hartnett, Mekhi Phifer, Julia Stiles,
Andrew Keegan, Elden Henson, Martin Sheen. Directed by
Tim Blake Nelson. Rated R.
Shakespeare has been subjected to numerous so-called
"adaptations" in recent years. They usually go
something like this: a screenwriter takes the
storyline from one of the Bard's plays, sticks it in a
modern setting, fills it with teenybobber stars, and
finds some way for it to be set in a high school. 10
Things I Hate About You skewered The Taming of the
Shrew and Get Over It tinkered with A Midsummer
Night's Dream for its own nefarious ends. O, directed
by Tim Blake Nelson, was actually filmed before both
of these, but was delayed after the Columbine
shootings made Miramax apprehensive about releasing an
Othello with teenagers. All the hubbub is misleading:
the violence that punctuates the film isn't graphic or
gratuitous, and the movie doesn't exploit
Shakespeare's play but demonstrates its startling
relevance.
Othello is now Odin (Mekhi Phifer), the star
basketball player of a rich, secluded prep school
(also the only black kid in said school), where the
students have apartments and friendship can quickly
turn into politics. He is given a prestigious award by
the riled-up coach (Martin Sheen), and promptly shares
it with his friend, colleague, and co-star, Michael
(Cassio; Andrew Keegan). This casts a long shadow on
second-rate player Hugo (a pre-Pearl Harbor Josh
Hartnett), who is jealous that the coach - his father
- showers attention on Odin and Michael while he is
left wholly out of the spotlight.
So Hugo - playing the part of Iago, of course - sets
out to ruin Odin and get rid of Michael in the
process. He enlists Roger (a.k.a. Roderigo), a
bullied, insecure young man, to make it look like
Odin's girlfriend Desi (Desdemona; Julia Stiles) is
fooling around with Michael on the side. What follows
is known to everyone who has read the play: trappings, misunderstandings and sinister plots eventually drive
O very nearly insane, culminating in a climax of
characteristic Shakespearean violence.
O has the conviction to stick very close to Othello's
original story in the face of inevitable objections to
the way it plays when brought into present day. I can
envision this happening; if not in a high school, then
definitely at a university, where athletic competition
reaches an absurd level. Remarkably, I can't remember
any moments that seemed glaringly phony; if the
business about the handkerchief seemed a bit trivial,
it was kind of silly in Shakespeare's setting as well.
Nor does the film wimp out at the end; the stabbings
turn into shootings, and the strangling takes place as
you would expect. The build-up to the climax is so
strong, that even though we expect the murders, the
sudden turn to violence is still jarring. The ending
provides no closure or comfort; no pat justification
for what took place to settle everything nicely in the
viewer's mind. Like in the best films, and the best
plays, we are forced to figure it out for ourselves.
Or maybe there's nothing to figure out. An
undercurrent in the film seems to be that this is the
natural course of human events, slightly exaggerated:
competition creates jealousy, jealousy escalates and
turns into malice, which becomes violence. It's a
chilling sentiment, but a daring one.
Josh Hartnett is especially strong in a film filled
with good performances; he needs to take more edgy
projects like this and less autopilot blockbusters
like Pearl Harbor. I also liked Elden Henson as Roger,
a role that carries real emotional weight and
emphasizes sides of the character that were ignored or
subdued in Othello. Director Tim Blake Nelson, himself
an actor (you may remember him as one of George
Clooney's dimwitted companions in O Brother, Where Art
Thou?), knew how to handle his youthful cast, though
Julia Stiles looked somewhat uncomfortable.
O is about teens but, like Ghost World, it is not a
"teen movie." It is a powerful film, and a real one,
making the case that even without the Olde English,
Shakespeare's plots don't go stale.
Grade: A-
Up Next: Hearts in Atlantis
©2001 Eugene Novikov
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