Doing a shakespeare play without the pesky inconvenience of Shakespeare's language sounds a bit like trying to drive a car without gasoline. Othello,'' updating them to the gossipy hothouse atmosphere of a contemporary high school. To an astonishing degree, ''O'' gets the tragic Shakespeare mood, that somber stentorian passion born of hidden slivers of ambition and betrayal. Ron Howard wants that Oscar and by hook or by crowe he's hoping to get it. John Forbes Nash Jr. stars a certain Gladiator named Russell Crowe as a tortured genius.
Word is good so far but still too early to tell.
The talent is there, the promos and stills look great, if the script holds up this could be really good and so far test audiences are indicating it is. It went months overtime and millions over-budget, its got a cast list that'd make Robert Altman blush. Its Martin Scorsese's first film in a few years that looks to have real major potential. This is either going to disappear into oblivion or sweep a whole lot of Oscar nods next year - no room for middle ground. There's already an in-built audience with this franchise but the good thing is that, based on the footage released so far, it actually looks like it'll be darn good too.