Rating: NN
O (Tim Blake Nelson) suffers from the problem of its source material, Shakespeare’s Othello, which is that Othello is not quite a tragic hero — he’s undone because he’s set up, not because of a flaw within himself. Also, the fate of a high school basketball team doesn’t matter quite as much as that of a nation, even for the most blinkered teen. That said, Josh Hartnett (Pearl Harbor) is a terrific, envy-consumed Iago, proving either that he’s a better actor than he’s been given credit for or that the part is actor-proof, even when Shakespeare’s dialogue is reduced to “Yo, dog, what’s up?” Mekhi Phifer has basically one note, a sort of sensitive-angry ostinato, and Julia Stiles demonstrates that not much can be done with a character as underwritten as Desdemona. 95 minutes. NN
