Film

O (2001)

Director: Tim Blake Nelson

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

He shoots, scores - on and off court - and is generally reckoned a slamdunk guy. Everything's going for school sports star Odin James (Phifer), and when not attracting talent scouts, he's getting cosy with Desi (Stiles), daughter of the college dean. Not bad for the one black kid in school. Coach Duke Golding (Sheen) is even moved to announce he loves Odin like his own son Hugo (Hartnett). But Hugo reckons this apple's ready to rot. Much about Shakespeare is conjecture, but few scholars contend that he conceived Othello as a Stateside high school basketball champ. And, regrettably, this new paintjob on a reliable warhorse doesn't have the verve or vivacity of Luhrmann's Romeo & Juliet or 10 Things I Hate About You. Hartnett is credibly twisted, but hardly the most fervent fount of evil. Credit, none the less, to the film-makers' game, unpatronising approach, and to Phifer and Stiles as compelling innocents.

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