NoFace for Film

Title: Ten Things I Hate About You
Year: 1999
Director: Gil Junger
Starring Cast: Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Larisa Oleynik
Rated: PG-13

NoFace for Film rating: 4.5 out of 7

Last week I reviewed one of the quintessential high school movies of the early 80s, Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Today I’m reviewing a popular, but (IMO) not as memorable film, 10 Things I Hate About You.

Based on Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, 10 Things is about the Stratford sisters, senior Katrina “Kat” (Stiles) and sophomore Bianca (Oleynik). Kat and Bianca are as different as can be. Bianca is not too bright but sweet, adorable, and in the “cool” crowd at school. On the other hand Kat is highly intelligent but bitchy, cynical, and an outcast- feared and loathed by all. Bianca wants to go out with Joey (Andrew Keegan) the most popular boy in school but can’t because of a rule set by her overprotective father (Larry Miller): Bianca can only date when Kat starts dating. Considering Kat’s demeanor, it’s highly unlikely this will ever happen.

When Cameron (Gordon-Levitt) sees Bianca, it’s love at first sight. Knowing of her father’s dating rules, Cameron and his friend Michael (David Krumholtz) scour the school for a person brave - or insane- enough to agree to go out with Kat, for a price. They find Patrick (Ledger), a mysterious loner with a reputation as long as his arm. Cameron and Michael persuade Joey, who is wealthy and also has his sights on Bianca, to pony up the money to pay Patrick to go out with Kat.

I thought that 10 Things was a clever interpretation of The Taming of the Shrew, almost as good as Clueless was to Jane Austen’s Emma. I also enjoyed the little references to Shakespeare, some as subtle as naming the high school Padua High (in Shakespeare’s play, the town is called Padua), to having one of the characters attend the prom dressed as The Bard himself.

Out of the ensemble cast, not surprisingly Ledger and Stiles stand out in their acting abilities. Ledger is charming and witty as the enigmatic Patrick, while Stiles plays the feminist harpy Kat with ease. Gordon-Levitt and Oleynik are cute as a button, but otherwise are two dimensional compared with Ledger and Stiles.

I think the coolest thing about 10 Things is that, like Fast Times at Ridgemont High, it boasts a cast of future all-stars. You have Ledger and Stiles, but you also have a then-unknown Gabrielle Union (in a tiny role as Bianca’s friend) and Krumholtz, who eventually went on to CBS’s Numb3rs.

While there are many quotable lines and memorable scenes in 10 Things, (i.e., Patrick serenading Kat on the football field), I maintain that Clueless is the better, more clever 90s teenage film. Maybe it’s because 10 Things is predictable, or it may be that Clueless is just funnier in my opinion. Nevertheless, 10 Things I Hate About You is a fun rental on a Friday night.

Technorati Tags: 10 Things I Hate About You, The Taming of the Shrew, William Shakespeare, Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles, Joseph Gordon-Levitt