Plot Odin 'O' James (Mekhi Phifer) the sole black kid in high school and a basketball ace, becomes enragd to the point of murder when deliberately misinformed by 'friend' Huge (Josh Hartnett), that his girl Desi (Julia Stiles) is seeing another.
Shaky Shakespeare? The film updates the Bard's play on tragic jealously, Othello, with barely disguised names. Othello/Odin, Hugo/Iago, Desi/Desdemona and so on. The fact that Odin's initials are OJ is probably not insignificant either.
Get me Julia Stiles Every director updating Shakespeare is begging for the talents of Stiles. This is her third time out - Ten Things I Hate About You (Taming Of The Shrew) and Hamlet, with Ethan Hawke being the other two.
Why is Josh Hartnett so Young? The film was made in 1998 but Miramax got cagey about releasing it in the wake of the Columbine massacre in April 1999, when two hacked off students went into their high school, bus blazing, to settle old scores. Lion Films eventually picked it up and released it. Lion films also took on Dogma when Miramax got cold feet over Kevin Smith's 'blasphemous' film,.Verdits 'Very little seems to work, or matter, or make much sense.' Newsday. 'A good film for most of the way, and then a powerful film at the end.' Roger Egert, Chicago Sun-Times.
Internet Movie Database Rating 6.8/10
