10 Things I Hate About You

When hiring this movie was first suggested I turned up my nose at it. I thought, another teenagers flick where the hottest guy in school has to appreciate a lesser unpopular chick etc etc etc. Since seeing it it has enterred my all time favourites list. Any old somebody can take the formula of The Taming of the Shrue and put it into a school yard, and any old somebody can avoid cle she's in the finer details, coming up with decent alternatives is the hard part, whatever they did here works like clockwork. I would easily give it the best teen flick mantle.

Firstly, the acting is perfect, the roles are not overly demanding but Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger play this to perfection. The supporting cast is great aswell, there is not a soul that doesn't contribute to the perfection of it all. Realism is neither what they were really going for nor what makes the movie. The language and vocabulary of these kids is phenominal, words like, Vapid, Pensive, Hanus, Tempestuous, Miscreants. There are lots of words like these throughout the movie. It is the thing that does the most to enable adult enjoyment.

For once they avoided the school bully theme, the bad guy in this is just a model who the chicks like and some of the guys hang with and alot of others just realise he is a fool. The recessive geek role is this time given alot more credibility, he is given the majority of the genuinely witty one liners and finds a soul mate for himself, instead of them just making it a joke that he stays a joke. There are a few parts you can really cheer in, you have to watch it to appreciate them. There is truly never a dull moment.

The best quote of the whole movie would have to be "it's just an excuse for all the nerds at our school to rub up against each other to distract themselves from the pathetic emptiness of thier meaningless consumer driven lives" that pretty much sums up the purpose of teen parties these days. For once you actually identify with the "bitch" role in this, both she and the guy that is falsely pursuing her take a backward step, usually when it comes time for the leading man to apolagise for his deceit you really cant believe him after they have focused for so long on his efforts, this time for some reason you do, it fits straight into the story. There is another half to that situation here aswell but I wont disclose, it is probably the best bit of the movie.

And the last major point is that this time the father character is a hell of alot stronger than before, if that had been weak so would the rest of the movie have been, but he is not. He has a reason for being there and you identify with him aswell. It is clear to see they were making the characters all strong in thier own right and stronger than the actual story.

To sum it all up the characters, story and acting are all perfect, adults can enjoy this one aswell, also because the main relationships are more stable and adult than the unpredictability of true teenage relationships, if they can be called such. So here is the count.

Production Values 2/2, Acting 2/2, Quality and Meaning 1.5/2, Screenplay 2/2, Originality 1/2

Anyone can get something from this movie and most can get alot. This is a must. For the movie it is I would give it 10 but going by the main qualities listed above which all movies can be measured by it would get

8.5/10

I can't say enough good things about this movie. I do remember the first time I saw it, coming away thinking that I wanted to be just like Julia Stiles' character in it, though. She was so cool and did such an excellent job in her role, that still to this day I consider her to be the coolest teen in any 'teen movie'.

Basic Plot: Cameron (Levitt), a new student at Pagua high school, falls in love with a sophomore named Bianca Stradford (Oleynik).

However, Bianca has a flirtatious crush on the most popular senior at school named, Joey (Keegan). Cameron's sidekick Michael (Krumholtz)tells him, that Bianca is looking for someone to help her with French and Cameron decides that's how he'll ask her out on a date.

Kat Stradford (Stiles) is Bianca's sister. Totally opposite of Bianca, she is anti-social and is the most feminist high school senior you could ever meet. Against boys, dances, and anything having to do with prepiness and silly fun, she swears off dating and finds herself being accepted to Sarah Lawrence a college across the country in hopes to get away from her father and the city she lives in.

Bianca desperately wanting to date, is told by her father (Miller) that she will be allowed to date when her sister Kat does. Desperate and not knowing how to get her sister to 'date for her', ends up asking Cameron, her new French tutor, to help her with her predicament. Enter Patrick (Ledger). An outcast and rumored to have sold his kidneys on the black market for a new set of speakers, also attends Padgua high, and is unsuspecting of what will happen soon in his future.

Cameron and Micheal decide that in order to make this work, they need a backer. "Someone who's stupid, but has money." So they go to Joey, telling him that they know he likes Bianca, and they need him to pay Patrick a tidy sum, to have him date Kat, in order for him to date Bianca. What Joey doesn't know, is that Cameron secretly plans to date Bianca, while he pays Patrick to take out Kat.

It may sound like a very confusing movie. But it is so funny, cleverly written, and not entirely true of American teenage culture, but pretty close. The acting is wonderful and in my opinion nothing in the movie would have worked as well, without the people who played their characters. As I said before I think that Stiles' portration of Kat Stradford was right on, and no one could have done it better. Her best role, more than certainly, and I love this movie so much! I would have to say it's my favorite teen comedy next to The Breakfast Club. One the best movies, and a great watch!

I give it a 10 out of 10. Go rent it, or better yet go buy it! You won't regret it!

Kat Stratford (Julia Stiles) is a hard girl to like. Cameron James (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a new student at Padua High in Seattle. Michael (David Krumholtz) befriends the newcomer. Cameron falls for Bianca Stratford (Larisa Oleynik) but her father Walter (Larry Miller) won't let her date until his daughters graduate. Then Walter changes the rule to allow Bianca to date when Kat does. Cameron intends to find somebody for Kat. Michael tricks Joey Donner (Andrew Keegan) to pay mysterious bad boy Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger) to take out Kat. It's basically William Shakespeare's teen rom-com "The Taming of the Shrew". It has enough wit and fun. On top of it all, there's the good young pretty cast. Stiles is a terrific high-minded B and Ledger is a great bad boy with a heart. It's all good fun.

This movie was one of those turning point movies for cinema as a whole, from the same batch as A Knight's Tale, Titanic, The Matrix, Donnie Darko, American Pie, and so on.

So many brilliant actors in their youth here, in this petri dish of talent, it makes my heart wrench at how much the world, cinema, and life has changed since then, and those who are no longer around, such as Heath.

This is one of the best romance movies imo, and reminds me of my youth when life felt so new, young and exciting

The casting, acting, direction, writing, everything really, is superb.

Recommended for everyone.

When I went to see 10 Things I Hate About You, I expected the usual boring, pointless romantic comedy, where the romance is unbelievable and the comedy part seriously lacking. Instead I got an excellent plot and funny jokes with actual chemistry between the leads. As it is a modern remake of Shakespeare's The Taming Of The Shrew, you might think you need to know all about the play, but in reality the plot of the film is different and only the occasional bit of name-dropping has any connection to the play. Julia Stiles as Kat is undoubtedly the best actress, with Larisa Oleynik as her sister Bianca (an airhead eerily similar to Clueless' Cher) is also funny and believable. Heath Ledger and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are also good as their eventual boyfriends. The dialogue is hilarious and while the romantic plot is corny, it is entertaining (although the happily ever after ending is a bit too routine). The soundtrack and in particular the main title song (by Letters to Cleo) are catchy and the outakes at the end are good, although including outakes of scene that were taken out of the end movie is kind of confusing. I would recommend 10 Things I Hate About You to absolutely anyone as it is hilarious and without doubt the best romantic comedy I have ever seen.

RATING: 4/5