October 2, 2001 -- "O" is an intense retelling of Shakespeare's "Othello" set in a modern day high school, and using modern English. It is a well-crafted project and is also well-directed by Tim Blake Nelson, better known as an actor (he played a runaway convict in "O Brother Where Art Thou?") than as a director.

Josh Hartnett of "Pearl Harbor" stars as Hugo Goulding, the central character of the tragedy. Goulding seems confident and pleasant enough on the surface, but underneath smolders a passionate jealous rage towards his friends Odin James (played by Mekhi Phifer of "Shaft"), Michael Casio (Andrew Keegan of "10 Things I Hate About You") and Odin's girlfriend, Desi Brable (Julia Stiles of "Save the Last Dance").

Hugo, Odin and Michael are all starters on a top high school basketball team, coached by Hugo's father, Coach Duke Goulding (Martin Sheen of "Spawn" and "The West Wing"). The coach, not wanting to favor his son, overcompensates by being demanding. He believes his son is strong and will do well under pressure. Hugo, on the other hand, feels under-appreciated. While he sets the screens, gets the rebounds, plays defense and does all the dirty work, Mike and Odin get all the glory, and the attention of the college scouts. Odin's happy romance with Desi is just more salt in Hugo's wounds. He wants to hurt Odin and he forms a devious plan to split up Odin and Desi.

Hugo cleverly manipulates his friends, particularly his rich roommate, Roger Rodriguez (Elden Henson of "Cast Away") to create a situation which makes it appear as if Desi is cheating on Odin. All the while, he pretends to be friends to the very people he is hurting. Hugo's Machiavellian schemes spin out of control, ending in terrible tragedies. Brad Kaaya's adaptation of Othello cleverly uses the culture of athletics and illegal drugs (such as steroids) to fortify the plot. The only part of the story which seemed implausible was Rodriguez' rather extreme willingness to put himself in harm's way to further Hugo's ambitions.

Hartnett is electric in his portrayal of this truly evil, twisted character. Some critics were surprised by Hartnett's performace. I wasn't. He is a good actor. It is just that "O" has a much better script that "Pearl Harbor." Mekhi Phifer does a great job of portraying the proud, noble Odin, brought low by that terrible demon of jealousy. Julia Stiles also does a nice job in the film as a young lover who senses something is going wrong, but isn't clever or experienced enough to know what is really happening. Rain Phoenix is also good as Emily, Desi's jealous roommate.

The story translates well into this modern high school athletic setting. Young people grow up fast these days, and this story shows clearly the dangers of inexperienced people dealing with emotions as powerful as love and jealousy. The fact that star athletes are often not held accountable for their mistakes and are not even required to grow up also fits into the story very well. America's underlying racism also fits nicely into the plot. This is an excellent retelling of a classic story. Like any good tragedy, one gets a hopeless feeling of being pulled down into the madness of love, jealousy, hatred and rage as the movie goes on. You know nothing good will come of the story, but it is fascinating, nonetheless. This film rates a B+.

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