10 Things I Hate About You

Starring: Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Larisa Oleynik, Larry Miller, Andrew Keegan, David Krumholtz, Susan May Pratt, Allison Janney
Directed by: Gil Junger
Rating: PG-13
1999

Times Seen:
Tim: 3

Summary: Update of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. When Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) sees Bianca (Larisa Oleynik) he immediately falls for her. The only problem is, her overprotective father (Larry Miller) won't let her date, until her older, antisocial I-hate-everyone sister, Kat (Julia Stiles) does. Cameron comes up with the perfect plan. He'll get bad boy Patrick (Heath Ledger) to date Kat, so he can date Bianca.

Review:

Tim: I really, really like this movie. First up, its an update of Shakespeare. William Shakespeare... you know its gonna be good. Second of all, it has an incredible cast. And finally, it is just a really, really fun movie.

The impressive young cast is just one of the many bonuses to this film. Heath Ledger is a terrific actor, and I have more respect for him than most in Hollywood. He is excellent here, playing the bad boy, but deep down, not such a bad guy at all. With Julia Stiles, I never know if I'll like her or not (she was good in Save the Last Dance, not so good in "O"). Here, however, she gives her best performance yet, and the chemistry between her and Ledger is awesome. Then, of course, there is Larisa Oleynik, who I think is incredibly fine, so any movie with her is a good one in my books. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is actually really good here. His, "And I'm back in the game!" line is one of my favorite. Finally, one can't forget to mention Larry Miller and his hilarious performance as the dad. He is so damn funny, and just adds a tremendous amount to the movie.

While this film is impressive, its also a fairly typical teen comedy- but wait, there is some hope- its not overladen with sex, and the few times it is mentioned, its usually done tastefully. This film is less about sex and more about love- which is a rare find among current teen films like American Pie, where sex is all you hear and see. While thats ok sometimes, its also nice to see a film like this one, where love counts for something, too.

Pay attention to Kat's poem at the end of the movie. It's called 10 Things I Hate About You (hence the movie title), and is actually really, really good.

This film is excellent. It has a stellar cast, chemistry all over the place, and is an update of Shakespeare. If you're looking for a teen film that the whole family can enjoy, you can't do much better than this one.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 8



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: American Pie, Save the Last Dance, A Knight's Tale, "O", The Patriot, The Baby-Sitters Club