O film review

certificate_15

O

"Perdition catch my soul, But I do love thee! and when I love thee not, Chaos is come again..." So laments Shakespeare's much abused Moor, Othello, as he chews on the rumours of his beloved Desdemona's infidelity.

O resets the Bard's tragedy to the fraternity houses and locker rooms of an American high school, where green-eyed passion corrupts the lives of a group of students.

Odin James (Mekhi Phifer) aka "O" is the star player on the Palmetto Grove basketball team. Beloved by the other students, not least the dean's daughter Desi (Julia Stiles), he is the sole black student in an all-white prep school, and destined for greatness both on and off the court.

Fellow team-mate Hugo (Josh Hartnett), son of grizzled team coach Duke Goulding (Martin Sheen), despises Odin because his father treats "O" more like a son than him. Consumed by rage and jealousy, Hugo resolves to destroy Odin by exploiting the lad's one weakness: his inability to trust Desi with other men.

So Hugo masterfully plants seeds of doubt in Odin's mind about the nature of Desi's relationship with fellow player Michael Casio (Andrew Keegan). Hugo also woos Desi's lovesick roommate Emily (Rain Phoenix), to procure a scarf, given by Odin as a present, which he can plant to prove the girl's supposed treachery.

Sure enough, "O" swallows his friend's lies, and his hatred for his girlfriend grows...

Director Tim Blake Nelson made O almost four years ago, but the film was delayed due to unfortunate similarities between the subject matter and the Columbine tragedy. Screenwriter Brad Kaaya abandons Shakespeare's rhyming couplets and iambic pentameter, and attempts to capture the spirit of the original play. He largely succeeds.

The resetting of the action to the tribal warfare of the basketball court is surprisingly effective, providing a highly charged backdrop to Hugo's vicious mind games.

Phifer is compelling as the poor unsuspecting victim of the piece, and Stiles radiates wholesomeness, and naivete, as the woman who will bring about his downfall. Hartnett isn't entirely convincing as a master manipulator, but he certainly exudes the charisma necessary to pull of his despicable plan, and to blind the rest of the school to his true, heartless nature. Supporting performances are largely forgettable, but the resolution delivers a considerable emotional punch.