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In this teenage update of Shakespeare's treacherous tragedy Othello, Mekhi Phifer plays a private school basketball hero driven to jealousy and the murder of his girlfriend (Julia Stiles) by a malicious, coldly calculating teammate (Josh Hartnett) who thinks he's been overlooked by the coach (who happens, in a nice twist, to also be his father). Director Tim Blake Nelson (the dimwitted Delmar in O Brother, Where Art Thou?) creates an effectively portentous atmosphere, spring-loading the film with palpable tension, but the performances lack import, as does the setting. In the end, high school hoops just can't measure up to the political, racial and military overtones in the source material that so memorably lend themselves to turbulence and reactionary violence. Optional. (R. Blackwelder)