Or: I Was a Teenage Othello. The tragic hero is now named Odin (Mekhi Phifer), a basketball phenom at an otherwise white prep school in Charleston; his steady girlfriend, daughter of the dean, is called Desi (Julia Stiles, in her third Shakespearean update, after Ten Things I Hate about You and Hamlet, not to mention her second interracial romance within one calendar year, after Save the Last Dance); and the troublemaker, an envious teammate, is Hugo (Josh Hartnett), son of the coach, known as Duke. The foreordained events have a forced-march tedium common to all but the freest of Bardic adaptations (West Side Story, Throne of Blood, Forbidden Planet), and the plot mechanics (e.g., the pilfered kerchief) typically tend to seem more grinding without the lubricating poetry. The basketball details, apart from Martin Sheen's sideline manner as the vociferous coach, are dubious as well: from the dark uniforms of the home team to Desi's little nap right before tip-off of the championship game. Directed by Tim Blake Nelson. (2001) — Duncan Shepherd
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