10 Things I Hate About You (1999)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Gil Junger

Writers (WGA):

Karen McCullah Lutz (written by) &
Kirsten Smith (written by)

Release Date:

31 March 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

How do I loathe thee? Let me count the ways.

Plot:

A remake of the classic Shakespare play "The Taming of the Shrew.", set in a modern day highschool.

Plot Keywords:

Sister | Shrew | School | Dating | William Shakespeare

Awards:

2 wins & 10 nominations

Cast

Heath Ledger	...	Patrick Verona
Julia Stiles	...	Kat Stratford
Joseph Gordon-Levitt	...	Cameron James
Larisa Oleynik	...	Bianca Stratford
David Krumholtz	...	Michael
Andrew Keegan	...	Joey Donner
Susan May Pratt	...	Mandella
Gabrielle Union	...	Chastity
Larry Miller	...	Walter Stratford
Daryl Mitchell	...	Mr. Morgan (as Daryl 'Chill' Mitchell)
Allison Janney	...	Ms. Perky
David Leisure	...	Mr. Chapin
Greg Jackson	...	Scruvy
Kyle Cease	...	Bogie Lowenstien
Terence Heuston	...	Derek

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for crude sex-related humor and dialogue, alcohol and drug-related scenes, all involving teens.

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS | DTS

Certification:

Australia:M (TV rating) | UK:12 (cut) | Malaysia:U | South Korea:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Canada:14A | Chile:14 | Finland:S | France:U | Germany:12 (w) | Iceland:L | Mexico:B | Netherlands:AL | New Zealand:PG | Norway:11 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | Sweden:Btl | USA:PG-13 | Philippines:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Aurora Bridge, Seattle, Washington, USA

Company:

Touchstone Pictures

Trivia:

Julia Stiles originally auditioned for the role of Bianca Stratford.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Joey parks his car in front of Kat's car outside the music shop, she is inline with his front wing, but when she reverses into it she hits the door.

Quotes:

Mr. Morgan: I know how difficult it must be for you to overcome all those years of upper middle-class suburban oppression. Must be tough. But the next time you storm the PTA crusading for better... lunch meat, or whatever it is you white girls complain about, ask them WHY they can't buy a book written by a black man!
White Rastas: That's right mon!
Mr. Morgan: Don't even get me started on you two!
White Rastas: [Mumble to themselves]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Numb3rs: Soft Target (#2.6)" (2005)

Soundtrack:

FNT

Funny, lively and enjoyable despite being a little predictable

On his first day at a new school, Cameron falls for Bianca Stratford. However not only is she popular and beautiful but her father has forbidden her to date until her older sister does too. The problem is her sister, Kat, is negative, bad tempered and unfriendly and certainly undateable. Cameron seeks the services of school bad boy Pat who he arranges to be paid to date Kat and thus allow him to go out with Bianca - but things never go smoothly when it comes to love.

I'm not a big fan of teen comedies. They mostly are lame, trading on the same old plots and clichés that have been around since Animal House and Porkies. The recent trend has just seen classical texts adapted giving rise to some poor films like `She's all that'. The plot for this is basically `The Taming of the Shrew' updated - most of it bares little resemblance to the play but that doesn't matter - the core is interesting enough to stand on it's own. It may not surprise you in terms of who gets which girl and it's fairly predictable in a romantic comedy type way but that's not it.

No - the film is funny, lively and pretty enjoyable. The comedy is built around the central plot with lots of nice touches and characters that are genuinely funny, such Mr Morgan and the erotic drama writing headmistress. The jokes happily never stoop to the gross-out type and this helps it feel fresh and lively, rather than just scrapping the bottom of the barrel.

Another strength is that the cast are all very likeable and give good performances all round. Compared to the horror or Prince and Lillard in `She's all that' this was a dream cast. Ledger is a real up and comer and he does well here - he doesn't over-egg his bad boy cake and his fall into love is believable. Stiles is very cool and better than the teen roles she has had of late. Here she rises above the `outsider' cliché given to her and does good work - again being a likeable and believable character.. Gordon-Levitt is OK but quite characterless compared to the main two roles, likewise Oleynik. The bets roles are those on the edges and the three adult support roles really do well and are very funny - Janney, Mitchell and especially Miller on good form. Gabrielle Union is once again given a side role that doesn't play to her strength. I like her and want to see her in bigger roles but here she is a `minority face' in a predominately white film, just as she was in She's All That - maybe I'm being a little paranoid but that's what it feels like.

Overall I was taken by surprise as to how funny and lively this film was. It didn't sink to the gross out comedy of so many teen movies and had characters and actors who brought spark and energy to the screen. It may be predictable but it works and the jokes and side characters just add to the sense of fun. Not brilliant but compared to the mediocre bunch of teen comedies you COULD watch, this is fantastic!