Ten Things I Hate About You

Gil Junger | USA | 1999 | 97 mins

After the untimely and tragic death of Heath Ledger this year, we thought we should include a film in our programme to commemorate one of the most loved and respected actors of our generation. During the last few years of his career he became known for his astonishingly honest portrayal of challenging roles, from Brokeback Mountain to Candy to his now infamous turn as the Joker, a performance that has turned The Dark Knight into a box-office breaking, world-wide phenomenon. But the film that thrust him into the limelight and made him an icon of our generation is without a doubt 10 Things I Hate About You.

Following in the footsteps of Clueless, 10 Things I Hate About You is a modern take on Shakespeare’s ‘The Taming of the Shrew’, swapping lyrical lines for teenage slang. Heath Ledger plays the part of Patrick Verona, who is hired by Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, as far a cry from Brick as you could get) to take out Kat Stratford (Julia Stiles) so Cameron can take out her sister Bianca (Alex Mack, or Larisa Oleynik as she is sometimes known as). Seems simple, but what about the fact that Kat is one of the most angry and unpleasant individuals to grace their high-school hallways? Good thing Patrick has just as much a reputation as she does!

An 80’s teen movie for the 90’s, it could’ve gone so wrong yet managed to hit all the right buttons, from not patronizing it’s teenage audience in the least, to hilarious side characters that will be quoted forever more (the Stratford father is particularly side-splitting), and last but not least the effortless chemistry between Patrick and Kat, which made a millions of teenage (and probably much older) girls fall instantly in love with Heath Ledger.

There is the risk that Heath Ledger’s death will spoil this teen classic, it’s blatant cheeriness too jarring. However, of all the ways to remember him, this is one of the nicest, in a role that was obviously a lot of fun, for him and the audience, at the beginning of a career that went on to great things.

Review by Sorcha Ni Chroinin
Written for EUFS Programme Autumn 2008

It was Clueless that started it all. The formula is simple: take the plot from one of the classic works of literature (Emma for that, The Taming of the Shrew for 10 Things I Hate About You), transpose it to a modern teen movie setting and there we have it. Great ingredients, but Ten Things I Hate About You is the only one so far that's worked. What films such as She's All That and Cruel Intentions seemed to have forgotten is that merely copying a plot doesn't guarantee success - you still have to make a good film.

The shrew of Shakespeare's title is Kat Stratford (Julia Styles) - someone who's decided that she's never going to do anything to conform to what others want from her, making her thoroughly unpopular at school. Her gyneacologist father is obsessed by the fear of teenage pregnancy, and in an effort to prevent her younger but airheaded sister Bianca (Larisa Oleynik) dating, without seeming too unreasonable, he declares that she may only date when Kat does. Cue attempts by Bianca's suitors to find a match for Kat by fair means or foul.

All the character development and humour that are so painfully lacking in the other recent attempts at updating the classics is here in bucketloads. It's remarkable how much plot the script manages to fit into 97 minutes while still keeping things plausible. The actors make the most of the material, particularly Julia Styles and Heath Ladger who turn in top notch performances as the hostile outsiders turned romantic leads. Yes, it's unoriginal - but the same could be said of the source material and besides, it's hard to criticise a movie that's so well made.

One of the best feel good movies of recent years, Ten Things I Hate About You does everything you would want from a romantic comedy, and does it well - sit back and enjoy.

Review by Mark Brown
Taken from EUFS programme spring 2000