Even though he's the only black student at the elite Palmetto Grove Academy, star basketball player Odin James has the adoration of all, including the team's coach and the Dean's beautiful daughter Desi. Odin's troubled friend Hugo, the coach's son, deeply resentful of his father's preference of Odin on and off the court, plots a diabolical scheme to sow the seed of mistrust between O and Desi, setting in motion a disturbing chain of events which erupts into a firestorm of breathtaking intensity.
Acting
Josh Hartnett's Hugo simmers with neglected-son rage.
Direction
Tim Blake Nelson makes Shakespeare feel dangerously contemporary.
Writing
Modern dialogue that doesn't embarrass the source material.
Director
Tim Blake Nelson
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Miramax buried this film for two years after Columbine, finally releasing it with zero marketing in 2001. It grossed $16 million and disappeared.
US
