O (2001)

An update of Shakespeare's 'Othello' with a young cast, set in an upper class prep school, & centered around basketball player Odin.

Director:

Tim Blake Nelson

Writers:

William Shakespeare (play), Brad Kaaya (screenplay)

Stars:

Mekhi Phifer, Julia Stiles, Martin Sheen

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mekhi Phifer	...	Odin James
Martin Sheen	...	Coach Duke Goulding
Josh Hartnett	...	Hugo Goulding
Andrew Keegan	...	Michael
Julia Stiles	...	Desi Brable
Rain Phoenix	...	Emily
Chris Freihofer	...	Assistant Coach
Elden Henson	...	Roger
John Heard	...	Dean Brable
Anthony Johnson	...	Dell (as Anthony 'A. J.' Johnson)
Chris Dong	...	Dutchman Player
Rachel Shumate	...	Brandy
Marshall Gitter	...	Radio Announcer
Lisa Benavides-Nelson	...	Ms. Serney (as Lisa Benavides)
Ken French	...	Scout #1

Storyline

Tough Coach Duke Goulding leaves nothing untried to lead his almost exclusively white boarding school basketball team, the Hawks, to victory after victory, but his own son Hugo feels his polyvalent technical excellence and tireless efforts -which require using stimulants- are not getting anything like the recognition he deserves, especially when coach gives the best player award to Odin James, the only black teammate, even saying he loves Odin like his own son, who in turn only calls super-rich Michael Cassio to share in the honor. So Hugo, who is liked by everyone, decides to set up the boys who stole his glory, and he knows a cocky adolescent's weak points are his pride and his girl. This Dixie Jago schemes to bring down a black Othello and his Cassio, playing into the poisonous power of jealousy, however badly this also hurts their loved ones and the whole team...

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Plot Keywords:

basketball | shakespeare's othello | basketball player | jealousy | man strangles woman | 

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Taglines:

Everything Comes Full Circle...

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, a scene of strong sexuality, language and drug use

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 August 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

Othello

Filming Locations:

Charleston, South Carolina, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,916,625, 2 September 2001, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$16,017,403, 4 November 2001

Company Credits

Production Co:

Chickie the Cop, Daniel Fried Productions, Dimension Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film was being edited by night while O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) was being filmed during the day.

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Goofs

Even if Hugo's plan all went as planned, and he succeeded in framing Michael for Desi's death, how does this get revenge on Odin?

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Quotes

[first lines]
Hugo: All my life I always wanted to fly. I always wanted to live like a hawk. I know you're not supposed to be jealous of anything, but... to take flight, to soar above everything and everyone, now that's living.

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Connections

Version of Othello (1989)

User Reviews

Don't waste your money

Wow, that was one crap-tastic movie. The script was trite, the actors were not entertaining, and I just had a bad feeling sitting through this movie. That was 8 bucks I could of spent on a piece of rope to hang myself... I'm sure it would of been more entertaining. It's a good thing Shakespeare is dead because if he wasn't he'd be p***ed off right now.