O (2001)
In the grand tradition on millennium-cusp teen movies, Shakespeare’s Othello got remade in a modern setting in O. It was such a great idea to help introduce younger audiences to classics, and I loved learning about The Taming of the Shrew, Cyrano de Bergerac, and Emma from 10 Things I Hate About You, Whatever It Takes, and Clueless. It was twenty years before I finally saw Othello as nature intended, and I was disappointed.
In this (far better) version, Hugo (Iago) has a great reason for his jealousy: he and O are on the high school basketball team together, coached by his father. His dad blatantly favors O, bestows the MVP award to him, and announces to the whole school he loves him like a son. Iago knows that O’s living on top of the world, and to gamble on his Achille’s Heel, he plants the seed of doubt about his girlfriend Desi. Doesn’t that make a lot more sense than Shakespeare’s version?
The cast in O is top notch. In his fifteen minutes of fame, Mekhi Phifer makes the most of the highly coveted role, and you feel so sorry for him as Josh Hartnett manipulates and betrays him. Josh is a pretty sneaky villain, but since he’s young and blinded by the hurt and desire for his father’s (played by the ever-stern Martin Sheen) love, you can imagine that he doesn’t really know how far it will all go. Julia Stiles, who remade four classics in her teen heyday, was a perfect choice for the fair, faithful Desdemona. You’ll also see her 10 Things I Hate About You costar, Andrew Keegan, as the innocent bystander Michael (Cassio). All in all, this is a well-acted, cleverly written adaptation of Othello that certainly helped me in my teen years and will undoubtedly help millions of other teens in the years to come. Can it be classified as a classic now that it’s twenty years old?
More Julia Stiles movies here!
Be sure and check out Hot Toasty Rag's review of 1965's Othello here!
In this (far better) version, Hugo (Iago) has a great reason for his jealousy: he and O are on the high school basketball team together, coached by his father. His dad blatantly favors O, bestows the MVP award to him, and announces to the whole school he loves him like a son. Iago knows that O’s living on top of the world, and to gamble on his Achille’s Heel, he plants the seed of doubt about his girlfriend Desi. Doesn’t that make a lot more sense than Shakespeare’s version?
The cast in O is top notch. In his fifteen minutes of fame, Mekhi Phifer makes the most of the highly coveted role, and you feel so sorry for him as Josh Hartnett manipulates and betrays him. Josh is a pretty sneaky villain, but since he’s young and blinded by the hurt and desire for his father’s (played by the ever-stern Martin Sheen) love, you can imagine that he doesn’t really know how far it will all go. Julia Stiles, who remade four classics in her teen heyday, was a perfect choice for the fair, faithful Desdemona. You’ll also see her 10 Things I Hate About You costar, Andrew Keegan, as the innocent bystander Michael (Cassio). All in all, this is a well-acted, cleverly written adaptation of Othello that certainly helped me in my teen years and will undoubtedly help millions of other teens in the years to come. Can it be classified as a classic now that it’s twenty years old?
More Julia Stiles movies here!
Be sure and check out Hot Toasty Rag's review of 1965's Othello here!