53
Metascore
26 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 88New York PostLou LumenickNew York PostLou LumenickExceptionally intelligent and powerful contemporary adaptation.
- 83Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanTo an astonishing degree, O gets the tragic Shakespeare mood, that somber stentorian passion born of hidden slivers of ambition and betrayal.
- 70Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranLos Angeles TimesKenneth TuranEssential to the success it manages is Hartnett's low-key, charismatic performance -- cool, withholding, compelling. The triumph of his insinuating Hugo/Iago is how plausible he is, how he manages to convincingly inject poison in so many minds without seeming to be trying.
- 63Miami HeraldRene RodriguezMiami HeraldRene RodriguezWhat O lacks is a sense of spontaneity: Despite its contemporary dialogue and manner, the movie can't overcome a nagging aura of artifice.
- 63Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaPhiladelphia InquirerSteven ReaStripped of its poetry, some of the devices of the tragedy of the Moor come off here as woefully contrived.
- 60TV Guide MagazineKen FoxTV Guide MagazineKen FoxEvery character fated to die in Othello meets his or her maker by the time the curtain falls on Blake's adaptation, which means the manicured campus of Palmetto Grove is left littered with slain coeds.
- 40Village VoiceAmy TaubinVillage VoiceAmy TaubinHad Nelson and Kaaya been less concerned with following Othello to the letter and rather had pursued this love affair into uncharted cinematic waters, O might have been more than an unresolved mixture of gimmickry and good intentions.
- 40NewsweekDavid AnsenNewsweekDavid AnsenThe actors attack their roles with commitment (Hartnett’s understatement is impressive), but their fervor can’t hide the movie’s implausible, often confusing storytelling.
- 30SalonCharles TaylorSalonCharles TaylorThe film is a plodding, earnest adaptation that strips the source of its richness and ambiguity.
- 30New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter RainerNew York Magazine (Vulture)Peter RainerIt'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.