O [2002] Josh Hartnett, Julia Stiles, Mekhi Phifer ; Rated 15

A stylish and interesting take on Shakespeare's 'Othello' which for the most part is an enjoyable affair. Unlike other big screen adaptations of Bill Shakespeare's work, this film keeps it's feet firmly on the ground, by not going too over the top. Hartnett puts in his best performance to date and Julia Stiles is of course as watchable as ever. The most interesting and less obvious component to this movie is Phifer who gives it everything he's got. Phifer after recently joining the hit American T.V series 'Er' (as Prat) has proved that he can play bat and ball with the best and rest of Hollywood 'A' lists and his performance in this feature is none the different. Phifer's character parallels the role of Othello, the desperately in love basketball player who turns to jealousy and revenge for comfort. Martin Sheen puts in an always welcome appearance as the team coach, for whom admittedly adds a touch of class to the feature. The directing is adequately done but with an unfortunate lack of the originality needed to fully support the stylised screenplay. As a result, the movie every now and again starts to feel like a blend of 'I know what you did last summer' and '10 things I hate about you', which for me was a little distracting. All in all though 'O' is perfectly watchable and in parts quite well done. However, the theatrical over tones of this picture may not appeal to everyone.

3/5