10 Things I Hate About You

How do I loathe thee? Let me count the ways
How do I loathe thee? Let me count the ways
10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU (12)
D: Gil Junger
Buena Vista/Touchstone/Mad Chance (Andrew Lazar)
US 1999
97 mins

Comedy/Romance

W: Karen McCullah Lutz & Kirsten Smith [inspired by "The Taming Of The Shrew" by William Shakespeare]
DP: Mark Irwin
Ed: O. Nicholas Brown
Mus: Richard Gibbs


Heath Ledger (Patrick Verona), Julia Stiles (Katarina Stratford), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Cameron James), Larisa Oleynik (Bianca Stratford), David Krumholtz (Michael Eckman), Andrew Keegan (Joey Donner), Susan May Pratt (Mandella), Larry Miller (Walter Stratford)

William Shakespeare's The Taming Of The Shrew gets a teenage update, set at an American high school where a pair of sisters are forbidden from dating by their strict father. There is a condition however, should the older, more responsible sister get a boyfriend, the party-loving younger of the two may also date, but there aren't many takers, until a mysterious stranger accepts a bet to woo the difficult Katarina and ends up falling in love with her.
More a reference to the world of Shakespeare rather than an adaptation for a modern audiences. The comedy style of the opening act starts erratically, flirting with farce before becoming a more traditional romantic comedy, working mostly because of the charming performances of Heath Ledger and, particularly, Julia Stiles.
I tried to think of 10 things I hated about it. I struggled to think of one.
7/10
 
Julia Stiles & Heath Ledger in 10 Things I Hate About You
Julia Stiles & Heath Ledger in 10 Things I Hate About You