[8.8/10] There’s a funny thing about these updated, transmogrified Shakespeare adaptations like 10 Things I Hate About You. If you didn’t know better, you could call the plots convoluted. There is a complicated web of relationships and deceptions, to the point that you practically need a diagram to explain it properly.
In short, Michael helps his friend Cameron woo Bianca by convincing Joey to pay Patrick to date Kat, because Bianca, per her father Mr. Stratford, cannot date until Kat does. With me? Well then, it turns out that Kat dated Joey, and after Bianca picks Cameron over Joey, Joey picks Bianca’s friend Chastity, while Michael pursues Kat’s friend Mandella, as Kat and Patrick’s tempestuous relationship takes root.
It’s a little dizzying, and yet the complex string of friends and enemies and relationships that tow the line between put-ons and genuine affection track nigh-perfectly into the high school setting. Despite the dense qualities of that big ball of string’s worth of plot threads, the complicated social structures and intersecting circles of high school make for the perfect way to realizes The Bard’s comedies in the modern day.
But 10 things is more than just a transmogrified version of The Taming of the Shrew. It also a charming tale that captures the heart and hazards of adolescence at the same time it exaggerates them for comic effect. What’s most impressive about the film is how it has its cake and eats it too on that front. There are goofy beats and subplots that only happen in teen movies, like unexpected party scenes and famous bands showing up to play contemporary (hopefully) chart-topping hits for the soundtrack.
But amid that broader material, there is a real examination of what it is to play up or down to expectation, a theme present in the work that inspired 10 Things, but which is given new life in the guise of the teenagers who are at that point in the fraught process of growing up where they’re deciding who and what they want to be, in love and in life. The gross wager that turns into real love is a hoary trope (see also: fellow 1990s borrower She’s All That) but by rooting the romance at the core of the film in two people who embrace a thorny image and find the hidden depths behind the prickers in one another, the film does justice to its source material and resonates with a target audience trying to figure out which parts of who they are malleable, which parts are non-negotiable, and which parts are fit to be broadcast to the rest of the world (or at least, the relevant social circles)>
It is also just damn charming. The film is full of quotable lines and crackerjack exchanges between characters. The cutting aside is wielded well and often, and side characters like teachers (including the great Allison Janney) and parents (Larry Miller, who nails both comedy and emotion as Mr. Stratford) provide a backdrop of colorful characters for the main story to flourish in. The writing stands out in 10 Things not just for the amusing lines which liven some otherwise familiar teen material, but for the way it allows the film to, in true Shakespeare form, shift tones into more serious material when it needs to.
The same goes for the characters. Kat shoots off the best zingers in the movie, and with her rebellious attitude and literary bent, it would be easy to turn her into a one-dimensional avatar rather than a character. Instead, the film roots her perspective and demeanor in an experience with Joey that gives form to her concerns of Bianca following in her footsteps, and gives just enough context to her mom leaving to make the crisis of conscience and turning point understandable.
By the same token, Bianca could easily be a generic popular girl, and in fairness, at certain points of the film, she is. But she too has a simple but meaningful arc of playing to expectations only to realize that she doesn’t necessarily like what that gets her, and it allows the two sisters to grow in their understanding of one another in strong scenes that deepen their relationship.
The objects of their affection receive a bit of shading as well. The reveal that Patrick, who puts on a gruff exterior and bears the reputation derived from many humorous urban legends about him, is not as wild as he seems is, perhaps, a predictable one. But he gains strength from the way that he and Kat see bits of themselves in one another, Cameron is a bit flatter, learning a trite if endearingly-put lesson about not accepting the notion that he doesn’t deserve what he wants, but there’s enough there to give ballast to the enjoyable-if-disposable teen romp elements.
Even Mr. Stratford, who is arguably the most outsized major character in the film, gets a bit of shading. While he spits out awkward-sounding nineties slang and is comically overprotective and paranoid of his daughters getting pregnant, the film balances that with a subtext to his insecurities about Kat leaving for Sarah Lawrence. There is a Daria-like quality to the film’s ability to poke fun at the parent-child relationship, but also find the sweetness and sincerity in it.
That’s what makes 10 Things more than the sum of its byzantine bets and love triangles. Some twists are convenient, some gestures a little too big to work anywhere but on the silver screen, and some bits of forgiveness come a little too easy. Still, the film keeps its plot, humor, and drama working in sync, where one scene can make you chuckle, the next will let you get to know a character a little better, and the one after will tug at your heartstrings, just a little bit.
The oh-so-nineties soundtrack immediately places in the film at a specific moment in time, but it speaks to the relatable qualities of that quest to figure out both who you are, and who’ll accept you for who you are, that feel like life and death for all seventeen-year-olds. 10 Things is a touchstone for those who grew up with it, both for the quips and clever asides that let the film crackle, and for the notion of young men and women, cutting through pretension and presentation, and finding something true beneath it, in themselves and in the people they love.
10 Things I love about this movie:
Julia Stiles's Kat and her take no shit attitude
Heath Ledger's charming performance
Heath Ledger's Hair
Heath Ledger singing Can't Take My Eyes Off You
A young Joseph Gordon-Levitt
How David Krumholtz made me think he was a young Oscar Isaac
The crazy high school love triangles
The 90s music
The high school dialogue
The prom scene
Mr. Morgan the teacher taking no shit from Kat
The band playing on the roof while the credits roll
The typical 90s house party at Bogie's house
Larry Miller's loving and quirky dad
Allison Janney's Ms. Perky and her erotic novel
The monologue at the end
I know there is more than ten but I loved this movie.
"I hate it when you make me laugh, even more when you make me cry. I hate it when you're not around and the fact that you didn't call. But, mostly, I hate the way I don't hate you. Not even close, not even a little bit, not even at all."
Had I seen this as a teen, maybe i would have learnt about passion and being in love very differently. Still, I love it in my 20s. I look forward to coming back again in my 30s and reflect.
Totally holds up. Light charming entertainment. I'll happily click it again some day.
Great feelings, honesty and sincere love, I love this movie very much
A teenage highschool romance movie but ngl, this really was good. Like, the movie was at times really funny and I laughed quite a bit. I also like the surprisingly nuanced writing in the characters, the music was good and yeah, overall the movie wasn't boring at all while still being charming. I also liked the composition of the shots, maybe i will watch again just for that. I think it's definitely an example of a film which has the usual tropes you expect but executes them well - to be fair, the movie is old. Maybe it even invented some tropes here instead of blindly adopting them from the genre.
This movie is very much a 90s high school rom com, but the upper tier of that genre. It’s certainly shown age, but it is still highly enjoyable to revisit. Not to mention the cast is absolutely stellar. If you haven’t seen this yet, you should give it a go!
Rating: 3.5/5 - 8/10 - Would Recommend
A typical teenage comedy of the 90s, but worth the while nonetheless.
Not enough modern day retellings of Shakespeare plays have dick jokes. 10 Things I Hate About You sets itself above all the others in this regard.
The quintessential teen movie, a time-machine to the late 90s, a modernisation of shakespeare and a classic cast of stars. What more could you want.
What a terrific cast, makes me miss Heath Ledger every time I see it.
Silly 90's teenage romance comedy, very entertaining.
funny how shakespeare’s been real quiet since joseph gordon-levitt said ‘i burn, i pine, i perish’
How could they mess this up that badly? They had the template provided by Shakespeare and some really fine actors. Oh, but they did. Even though the bar is low because of the genre, this is a really bad movie.
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Massively overrated nowadays for some reason. Perhaps it’s because some people think it captures their generation very well, like Easy Rider did for boomers. I can only comment from my perspective, and it just made me appreciate the progress we’ve made since the 90s in capturing the teenage experience more authentically (Ladybird, Booksmart, even the Tom Holland Spider-man films all do a much better job than the films from this time period). This feels like it’s more specifically written for teenagers, which is fine but it also means some things get a little dumbed down and stereotypical in the process. The movie thinks it gets away with it by pointing out its own clichés in typical Joss Whedon fashion, but it really doesn’t. I laughed a couple of times, it’s certainly not as dumb as American Pie, but a lot of it is still basic, cheesy and obvious. Also, it looks and sounds like it was intended to premiere on the Disney Channel.
4/10
So great to see this movie again after all these years. Just a classic 90s teen movie. So fun and entertaining.
I consider this a classic, everyone has to see this movie.
Great cast, really makes you miss Heath Ledger overall a great film.
Just had to take the trip down memory lane! Time just flew while watching this. Fun movie to watch and great choices for a cast!
the humor really good.i cant stop laughing,especially the way Kat treat everybody.i don't care about story line,the really important is laugh.
This movie is definitely one of my favorites! Kat is the epitome of don't mess with me and I'm in love with her character.
One of my favourite movies of all time.
BEST MOVIE IN ALL TIMES
Love love love this movie
Shout by Leidy TorresBlockedParent2016-07-29T19:31:54Z
“I hate the way you talk to me, and the way you cut your hair.
I hate the way you drive my car,
I hate it when you stare.
I hate your big dumb combat boots, and the way you read my mind.
I hate you so much it makes me sick, it even makes my rhyme.
I hate the way you’re always right, I hate it when you lie,
I hate it when you make me laugh, even worse when you make me cry.
I hate it when you’re not around and the fact that you didn’t call
but mostly I hate the way I don’t hate you, not even close, not even a little bit, not even at all.“