O 2001

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: The cast members do what they can to score with what they're thrown, but hardly anything goes in the basket. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: What O lacks in believability, it more than makes up for with a stunning relevancy. Read more

Philip Wuntch, Dallas Morning News: It's intense and enjoyable. Read more

Elvis Mitchell, New York Times: In trying to make Othello more lifelike and bring it down to a younger audience ... the adaptation has rendered the material artless. Read more

John Anderson, Newsday: Very little seems to work, or matter, or make much sense. Read more

Misha Berson, Seattle Times: This intelligent, well-paced film rendition forgoes the Elizabethan verse, while capturing the disturbing essence and gripping plot of Shakespeare's classic tragedy. Read more

Steve Murray, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: One of the most emotionally effective versions of Othello yet. Read more

Eric Harrison, Houston Chronicle: This version of Othello speaks eloquently and directly to contemporary audiences, rendering Shakespeare relevant and fresh. Read more

Paul Tatara, CNN.com: O may not be a classic adaptation, but it works a lot better than it should have. Read more

Steven Rosen, Denver Post: In the ways that the plot points have been 'modernized,' events and character motivation often come off as far-fetched. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: To an astonishing degree, O gets the tragic Shakespeare mood, that somber stentorian passion born of hidden slivers of ambition and betrayal. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: A worthy experiment, though far from a slamdunk. Read more

David Ansen, Newsweek: This arty melodrama is not likely to make teenage America get down with Shakespeare. Read more

Peter Rainer, New York Magazine/Vulture: It's a doomy dirge of a movie, in which the protagonists, or at least the actors who play them, aren't equipped to handle their outsize passions. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: Nothing about O rings true. Read more

Andrew Sarris, New York Observer: In the end, the Shakespearean ideas collapse on film because of the youthful callowness of the characters. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: A good film for most of the way, and then a powerful film at the end. Read more

Charles Taylor, Salon.com: A plodding, earnest adaptation that strips the source of its richness and ambiguity. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: A tale of teen violence takes on qualities of timelessness and universality it would not otherwise possess, while the Othello story leaps out from the screen with a rare immediacy. Read more

Richard Schickel, TIME Magazine: On your already groaning Shakespeare for Teens video shelf, stack this one above 10 Things I Hate About You ... and quite a bit below Romeo + Juliet. Read more

Time Out: Credit, none the less, to the film-makers' game, unpatronising approach, and to Phifer and Stiles as compelling innocents. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Artful and emotionally compelling. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Variety: This transferral of the tragedy of the Moor to a contempo American high school is something that never should have gone further than a class assignment to see if it could be made to work. Read more

Amy Taubin, Village Voice: An unresolved mixture of gimmickry and good intentions. Read more