Deanna
There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.
Marva
It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,
jaiaisrael
I guess if this was a Shakespeare interpretation then I understand why everyone in the film was stupid. Of course this is a normal plot device for Shakespeare, but speaking as a person who did not make that Shakespeare connection, I hated this movie. If you are going to update Shakespeare you have to change it so it doesn't frustrate the heck out of the audience. Everyone in this film except the deceiver was stupid, aloof, and easily deceived. So as a critique of Shakespeare, his productions cannot be updated without insulting every character in the film. It cannot be updated without asking the audience to believe that people are very easy to deceive even today. At the end of this movie I had disdain for every character. The whole movie made no sense at all, I would have turned it off about 1/4 way through it, because it was insulting. I say, update Shakespeare in a creative way, but do not insult the audience with a modern interpretation without modern sensibilities. This movie sucked, but OK, it was just Shakespeare.
Daniel Puselj
This is a great example of what many movies should be about.Jelousy and Revenge were the key elements that made this movie so great and it worked to perfection. The actors were great and they performed spectacularly, especially the scene when Oden kills himself, his suicide speech was very moving and very passionate, I really did feel for him. The drug scenes were a bit too much in my opinion, I don't know what else they could have had instead of that but that is probably the only thing I did not like about the whole movie.In my opinion this would be an ideal movie for anyone to watch. It pretty much contains everything that you'd want in a movie. 10/10
Hancock_the_Superb
Odin James (Mekhi Phifer) is the only black student at Palmetto Grove, a private school in the Deep South. He is the star of the basketball team, is dating Desi (Julia Stiles) daughter of the school's dean, and is loved by teachers, coaches, and students. All that is, except Hugo (Josh Hartnett), the insanely jealous son of the basketball coach (Martin Sheen). Enlisting the help of hopeless outcast Rodger (Elden Hanson) and his girlfriend Emily (Rain Phoenix), Hugo launches a convoluted scheme to destroy Odin's life, convincing him that Desi is cheating on him and also turning him against best friend Mike Cassio (Andrew Keegan). Odin's jealousy eventually gets the better of him, and a tragic conclusion becomes inevitable.Adapting Shakespeare for teens is a process that generally strikes me as intellectual masturbation or pompous self-importance. The themes of Shakespeare's plays are so universal and more importantly oft-copied that claiming descent from Shakespeare seems like a desperate attempt to add class to an otherwise typical film. Luhrman's "Romeo+Juliet" was a loud, flashy mess, redeemed only by its lead actors. "Ten Things I Hate About You" and "She's the Man" were disposable fun but more or less interchangeable with any number of other teen flicks, and in any case bearing only tertiary relation with their source material. I'm not impressed with "She's the Man" claiming descent from "Twelfth Night" because its basic story has been done five million times since.However, O stands above these films, despite a few notable flaws, namely the ending. Tim Blake Nelson adapts what is (in my opinion) Shakespeare's greatest tragedy Othello into a modern setting with surprising skill, keeping the spirit and themes of the play intact and even adding additional layers to it.Shakespeare's play is as much about the villainous Iago as it Othello. Despite his wickedness, Iago is a sympathetic character; he is clearly a tormented man with inner demons he doesn't know how to face. In this film, Hugo has additional motivation beyond merely being passed over for promotion (or acknowledgment as MVP). His father barely acknowledges his existence, while embracing Odin as "the son I never had". As despicable as Hugo's actions are, it's easy to see what would drive him to such extremes.Also added is an exploration high school caste system. Usually dealt with in a truncated and comic fashion, it is devastatingly portrayed here. Rodger, Hugo's accomplice, is the son of one of the school's contributors, but also a geek who is beat up and picked on by pretty much everyone. There is a painful scene where Cassio torments him at a basketball game until he leaves. Hugo's alienation from his team mates is also a major factor, and it's easy to see why many people thought of Columbine when the film was released. People cast out by society are likely to their revenge, and this film shows that with devastating effect.Perhaps inevitably, the movie gives more weight to Odin's race than the source material did. The film features several sex scenes, including a disturbing one at mid-point where Odin's jealous begins to take hold in the middle of coitus - a scene that is both disturbing and effective. Odin is a model student, a great player, and liked by almost everyone in spite of his race, and yet as Hugo's scheme begins he begins reverting to stereotypes - he does drugs, is violent and moody, and at the end is driven to murderous rage. Odin is a victim as much of his own demons as Hugo, and the movie does an excellent job showing that.The biggest problem with the film is the end. Although abbreviated, the movie does a good job following the original text, and the film is perfectly paced. Until the climax. The decision to reduce the last two acts into a brief montage scene was a mistake, and ruined the pacing of the film. Odin's monologue at the end justifying his actions would have been more powerful if the movie hadn't just leaped into it.The cast is uniformly solid. Mekhi Phifer is powerful as Odin; his portrayal of Odin as a victim of his own insecurities is spot-on, and he is a thoroughly believable character throughout. Josh Hartnett, whom I've never rated as much of an actor, surprised me with a powerful performance as the treacherous Hugo. Julia Stiles' part as Desi is underwritten but Stiles cannot be faulted for that, and as always her performance is top-notch. Andrew Keegan, Rain Phoenix, and Elden Hanson also create memorable characters. Martin Sheen and John Heard are effective as the two most prominent adult cast members.Despite the ending, "O" is definitely the best of the teen adaptations of Shakespeare. The spirit of the original play is kept intact, and the characters are adapted well into a modern context. Definitely worth a look.7/10
