Andrew Keegan, Anthony Johnson, Chris Dong

Deep in the American South, NBA hopeful Odin James is the only black student at an elite private school. Playing point guard, Odin is a basketball scout's dream, possessing the talent to go straight f...( read more  read more... )rom high school to the pros. Odin not only enjoys widespread popularity with the students, he is dating the beautiful Desi Brable, daughter of Dean Brable. Odin's best friend, Hugo Goulding, is a starting forward on the basketball team and the son of Coach Duke Goulding. Hugo is bitterly envious of Odin and the attention he receives from the coach and everyone else. Placed in the role of Odin's confidante, Hugo is, in reality, seeking to destroy his friend. Striking at the very core of Odin's soul, Hugo convinces him that Desi is having an affair with another member of the basketball team, Michael Casio. As the basketball season comes to a dramatic finish, conflict among the friends escalates into irrevocable tragedy when Hugo executes a plan prompting Odin to throw away all he cares about most.

Flixster Users

59% liked it

32,369 ratings

Critics

63% liked it

123 critics

R, 1 hr. 31 min.

Directed by: Tim Blake Nelson

Release Date: August 31, 2001

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DVD Release Date: February 19, 2002

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Stats: 1,291 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (1,291)


  • December 14, 2008
    Josh Hartnett is an evil fu*k in this, and he plays it well. This is a fascinating, and quite disturbing "teen" look at William Shakespeare's 'Othello'. It's deep, dark, and wicked...and also cruel at times. The performances are solid, and convincing. The script is unique and wel...( read more)l thought out(the dialogue is not in typical Shakespearean style). The movie also flows at a great pace, and never falls flat. It always keeps you interested.

    Josh Hartnett almost comes off like the anti-Christ. His plans are malicious, down right evil, and destructive. He never shows signs of remorse or any feelings of gratification, even after he succeeds in destroying one's hopes and dreams. It makes you think if Josh Hartnett's character ever had a soul. Was he always this way? Or did something happen, some sort of horrible turning point in his life? But, we don't get any explanation. His jealousy and rage is the only thing that's on display here. And because of that, his character becomes even creepier. Simply not knowing the beginning of his cause leaves it to our imagination, which can be the scariest thing, and also seeing how fu*ked up he is, only the darkest of things can be the result.

    "All my life I always wanted to fly. I always wanted to live like a hawk. I know you're not supposed to be jealous of anything, but...to take flight, to soar above everything and everyone, now that's living."
    - Hugo(Josh Hartnett)
    .....Again...where did this jealousy, emptiness, and animosity really come from? Creepy, cause there are some others out there who really feel this way.

    Lives do get crushed in this movie...destroyed...and things do go to the point of no return. This is not a happy, feel good movie. It's a depressing and bitter film. And like I said before...it's quite disturbing. But I highly recommend it.

    "***1/2 So now here is ''O,'' a good film for most of the way, and then a powerful film at the end, when, in the traditional Shakespearean manner, all of the plot threads come together, the victims are killed, the survivors mourn, and life goes on. It is clearly established that Hugo is a psychopath, and that his allies are victims of that high school disease that encourages the unpopular to do anything in order to be accepted. Those who think this film will inspire events like Columbine should ask themselves how often audiences want to be like the despised villain."
    - Roger Ebert

    "**** Sensitive and vivid response to the tangled issues of teen violence, race and self-esteem."
    - Seattle Post-Intelligencer

    "***1/2 Exceptionally intelligent and powerful contemporary adaptation."
    - New York Post

    "*** Artful and emotionally compelling."
    - USA Today

    "***1/2 A sign of O's effectiveness is that it works regardless of whether you know Shakespeare's play."
    - Chicago Tribune

    "*** This is a serious and well-acted drama, not a jokey ripoff, whose relevance (however distant) to Columbine is a plus."
    - New York Daily News

    "*** To an astonishing degree, O gets the tragic Shakespeare mood, that somber stentorian passion born of hidden slivers of ambition and betrayal."
    - Entertainment Weekly

    "*** O has one advantage over "Othello" -- since it's a new movie, not a classic, it has the power to surprise."
    - San Francisco Chronicle

    "*** Essential to the success it manages is Hartnett's low-key, charismatic performance -- cool, withholding, compelling. The triumph of his insinuating Hugo/Iago is how plausible he is, how he manages to convincingly inject poison in so many minds without seeming to be trying."
    - Los Angeles Times
  • April 29, 2008
    beautiful high school take of shakespeares othello
  • April 7, 2008
    I thought this movie was rather good and fairly accurate to the Shakespeare play. I thought the acting was good, and the renditions were great to make it modern. There was some good trickery and lessons here, and the ending was great with an awesome final lines.
  • March 23, 2008
    I saw this in theaters having no idea what it was about and not knowing it was based on Shakespeare. And I ended up loving it.

    Shakespeare is a master at tragedies, and this is one of the best. Being put into an American high school setting is unsettling and disturbing, seei...( read more)ng how easily something like this could happen around any of us.

    It was very sad to watch Odin James' life come to ruins, all over Hugo's jealousy.

    This movie tells us to take a very long look at if and how much we envy those around us, and be careful of how far we let that lead us.
  • August 30, 2007
    above average modern retelling of Othello.
  • November 18, 2009
    Actually a really great translation that didn't make a mockery of Shakespeare's work. Josh Harnett played a great Iago. It's interesting that this left more of a lasting impression on me that reading the play. Seeing all these things happen (especially when making the characters ...( read more)younger) really allows you to see the true sense of the meaning tragedy.
  • October 5, 2009
    I think it's a crappy remake of the original "Othello"
  • September 9, 2009
    Great adaptation and powerful performances
  • September 1, 2009
    this movie was fucked up ....
    it was so crazy ....
  • August 26, 2009
    It was cool until everybody died and the bad guy lived ^_^

Critic Reviews


August 31, 2001
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

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. full review

August 31, 2001
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail

A worthy experiment, though far from a slamdunk. full review

August 31, 2001
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

A good film for most of the way, and then a powerful film at the end. full review

August 30, 2001
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

Offers a thoughtful reading on adolescence pushed to the edge. full review

August 30, 2001
Claudia Puig, USA Today

Artful and emotionally compelling. full review

View more O reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

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