O (2001)
63 %
Reviews Counted: 122 Fresh: 77 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.
Runtime: 1 hr 34 mins
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 intriguing and tragic characters. Set in an elite private school located deep in the American South,... [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Mekhi Phifer, Julia Stiles, John Heard, Eldon Henson
Director: Tim Blake Nelson
Screenwriter: Brad Kaaya
Producer: Daniel Fried, Eric Gitter
Composer: Jeff Danna
Screenwriter: Brad Kaaya
Producer: Daniel Fried, Eric Gitter
Composer: Jeff Danna
Buy It On DVD
Reviews
The presence of old lags Martin Sheen and John Heard just beggars belief. What were they thinking?
Comment
07/06/08
This arty melodrama is not likely to make teenage America get down with Shakespeare.
03/31/08
Top Critic
It's highly enjoyable and well acted, with the Iago figure better motivated than in the original play, no single line of which has been retained except for the odd echo.
03/25/08
This transferral of the tragedy of the Moor to a contempo American high school is something that never should have gone further than a class assignment to see if it could be made to work.
03/25/08
Top Critic
Helmer Nelson has fashioned a clever premise, helped along by a smart ensemble that manages to highlight Shakespeare's work without parodying it--no small accomplishment.
03/01/07
Hartnett never allows him to become a hissable villain, keeping Hugo shy of our sympathies, yet his every move is utterly believable.
12/30/06
Long on the Shelf, O is well directed and decently acted, but its narrative, while more or less faithful to Shakespeare, tried to do too much, pushing the characters and their emotions to unreasonable and unconvincing extremes.
09/17/06
Credit, none the less, to the film-makers' game, unpatronising approach, and to Phifer and Stiles as compelling innocents.
01/26/06
Leave it to Hollywood to make a bold, challenging film for teens (and adults) only to let it collect dust on a shelf as proposed release dates were set, then scratched, many times over.
01/09/06
There’s an air of authenticity to the proceedings here, and stylistic pretension never obscures good storytelling.
05/21/05
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02/24/04
While O does contain some good performances and a creative sense of direction by Tim Blake Nelson, the film never really becomes anything more than a curiosity.
01/10/03
This is definitely worth watching, thanks to the performances and Nelson's direction.
10/30/02
I am happy to report that O does not do violence to, nor dumb down, its important themes.
10/21/02
Othello may be the saddest of all Shakespeare's tragedies, and O captures its power in the storm-tossed emotions of modern teens.
10/15/02
Perhaps overaware of its solemn literary inheritance, it tiptoes around sex and race, and, in turning Shakespeare's grown-ups into Dawson's Creek teens, jettisons much of the original's grandeur.
10/02/02
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O
by: emily2905 9/5/01
by: emily2905 9/5/01
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