Grade: B+

Verdict: Shakespeare's poetry is gone, but the plot comes through with piercing resonance in this teenage take on “Othello.”

Details: Starring Mekhi Phifer, Josh Hartnett and Julia Stiles. Directed by Tim Blake Nelson. Rated R for violence, a scene of strong sexuality, profanity and drug use. One hour, 35 minutes.

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Review: It took almost two years for “O” to reach movie screens after it was finished. It took many more years than that (centuries, actually) before someone realized how well William Shakespeare's tragedy “Othello” would translate to a teenage retelling. After all, who feels rivalry, love or jealousy as fiercely as adolescents do during those hormone-driven days when every emotion feels like a matter of life or death?

Purists will grumble. But while the notion of “The Moor of Venice High” may sound like a disastrously low concept, the gamble pays off in one of the most emotionally effective versions of “Othello” yet.

Screenwriter Brad Kaaya transposes the play's ancient Cyprus settings to contemporary Charleston, S.C. Instead of the military, the pecking order becomes an elite private high school, whose sole black student, Odin (Mekhi Phifer), is the equivalent of a general among his peers. He's the basketball star, held so highly in esteem by all that even his coach (Martin Sheen) proclaims to a school assembly, “I love him like my own son.”

That doesn't thrill the coach's actual son, Hugo (Josh Hartnett), whose own hard work on the court gets overshadowed by Odin and teammate Michael (Andrew Keegan). On top of that, Odin has hooked up with the best catch at the academy, Desi (Julia Stiles), the pretty, smart daughter of the dean (John Heard).

So Hugo plans a sophisticated form of revenge, playing on Odin's one unexpected weakness: his love for Desi. With a few deft manipulations — like stealing the scarf Odin gave to his girlfriend, so that it seems Desi has given it to a secret lover — Hugo plays on the BMOC's insecurities. Insinuating himself as a friend claiming to have only Odin's best interests at heart, he murmurs, “I'm not saying something is going on, but . . .” It's in the ellipses, in what is not completely said, that Odin's fatal jealousy starts to take hold as he grows convinced Desi is cheating on him with his teammate Michael.

Hugo's motivation is actually more believably grounded than that of his theatrical alter-ego Iago, whose decision to ruin Othello remains a little vague in the play. “Othello” is one of Shakespeare's works that's driven less by poetry than the interplay of plot and psychology. Screenwriter Kaaya, who reportedly experienced first-hand what it was like to grow up as the only black student in his high school, knows how to cut to the chase with his dialogue. It's bare-bones, but on target.

Hugo says, “You should watch your girl, bro.” Odin says, “What's up, man? Why you trippin'?”

The film is smart enough to use the racial tensions surrounding Odin and Desi's pairing without turning it into the whole issue. “Would you be so concerned if he was white?” Desi says when her friend Emily (Rain Phoenix) expresses worry about Odin's growing volatility.

“That is so easy,” Emily replies angrily. And she's right — playing the race card usually is.

Directed by Tim Blake Nelson (he played Delmar in “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”) with a riveting sobriety, “O” is impressively faithful to the incidents of Shakespeare's play. One modern innovation is introducing drug use into the plot, further impairing (and making more believable) some of the characters' judgments. It only falters in one twist of it's revamped plot. It just doesn't ring true when Hugo talks Odin into a revenge scenario that's too premeditated. We lose some of our sympathy for the misled guy. But it's a minor fumble, and the movie's finale plays with the immediacy and horror of real tragedy.

Phifer and Stiles (who also starred in another teen Shakespeare adaptation, “10 Things I Hate About You”) make a terrific, sexy couple. Nelson takes the time to show them cuddling in bed. Their intimate banter and frisky jokes together spell out the depth of their devotion, and as a result the immensity of what they stand to lose.

Hartnett, who has sometimes come across as little more than a pretty face, handles his tricky role with surprising assurance. And Sheen, as the father figure who has no idea of the chaos his son is hatching in the schoolroom halls, is terrific.

Filmed just before the shootings at Columbine and other high schools, the film was shelved by Miramax then sold to Lions Gate. It's an example of misguided timidity. “O” is very clearly not a pro-gun movie. Here, acts of violence have the sort of heavy, final consequences that you don't see in most bullet-heavy action flicks. Each bullet counts. Each bullet hurts.

— Steve Murray, Cox News Service