Forover a year I waited anxiously for the release of "O," a modern-dayhigh school adaptation of Shakespeare's Othello. My interest in the story starteda few years ago when I read the play. I was enthralled by every aspect of thestory: the jealousy, the love, the torment, and the underlying theme of racism.Shakespeare made it so clear; everything truly does come full circle.

So,it wasn't Josh Hartnett's presence that drew me to the movie, which, to mydisgust, is how it claimed most viewers. Rather, it was the attempt to bring apiece of beautiful 17th-century literature into our own world - the world of acontemporary teenager. Not to say that no one has tried this before (there were"Romeo and Juliet" and "Ten Things I Hate About You"), butthis one had the possibility to change everything.

"O" getsinside your head, disturbs you, takes you along and makes you wonder, What if?The most intense part of the movie was how the jealousy of a single soul couldrip apart the lives of so many around him.

Mekhi Phifer and Josh Hartnettmay be famous for their faces, but they show they truly do know how to act. Thisfilm was devised cautiously, pieced together in a way that you see thecharacters, and understand their emotions. Then you get to watch their livesunravel, inch by inch, until all that is left is a wicked realization: a singleact of jealousy is a powerful phenomenon.

"O" is certainly nota feel-good movie; it deals with blunt reality. There are bits of humor, but thisis a powerful piece of art, a beautifully interpreted piece of Shakespeare.

"O" stays pertinent to the lives of today's teens, and bylooking at the violence, the betrayal and the excuses, we can see that those actsshould not be glorified.

I recommend this movie to anyone, but I alsosuggest you learn Othello, understand the importance of the play, of the acts andthe emotion that create the story, and then watch them unfold on-screen.