Who in their right mind would assume that the night before is the proper time to get ready for prom? Doesn't anyone know how long planning that shit takes? Anyways, I have a weird relationship with this film but there is no doubt that Gil Junger's 10 Things I Hate About You is a solid piece of romantic comedy. Adapted from Shakespeare's classic The Taming of the Shrew, this movie is a teenage remastering of this ages-old tale. Set in a modern-day high school full of grungy 90's music and characters that look much older than they are supposed to be, everything about this movie truly plays into the time period that it was released more than anything. I love the relationships between the characters and how they all develop together, as it is undoubtedly adorable, but I just wish the gap between Shakespearean references and modern dialogue could have been bridged a bit better. Nevertheless, there are some great performances in this movie and a soundtrack that will keep you on your feet which, for a 90's film, is all that really matters anyway.
Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is the new kid in town and as he falls head over heels for the adorable Bianca (Larisa Oleynik), he discovers that she is not allowed to date until her older sister Kat (Julia Stiles) does. Hatching a scheme with his friend Michael (David Krumholtz) and the school sleaze-bag Joey (Andrew Keegan), they plan to set Kat up with the rebellious and bad-boy type Patrick (Heath Ledger) in order for him to get a date. What I enjoy most about this film is the adaptation of Shakespeare's original work into this newer, more modern environment. Even though looking back at this film now it still might seem a bit dated, the feminist and more progressive elements that were written bring this movie up a whole other level. Especially seen in Julia Stiles' character Kat, there is so much characterization in her that is simply not seen in Shakespeare's source material. While the original Katherine from The Taming of the Shrew is only seen as a foul-mouthed and unsuitable woman, Stiles' Kat brings along a more complex character, as she actually has deeper motivations and reasons for not liking or trusting men. Even though there is an endless multitude of reasons not to trust men, it was great to see how multi-dimensional Kat was. However, the male characters, with the late Ledger's Patrick being the only exception, were a bit more troublesome. One of the main issues I have with this film is how it paints the men like Cameron, Michael, and Joey in almost positive lights regarding their views towards how to attract girls. It was very male gaze-oriented and even though the audience is supposed to root for Cameron, there was frankly nothing about his personality that I found remarkable. Luckily, this puts more emphasis on Patrick and Kat, who were the true saving graces of this film.
Ledger and Stiles' performances were absolutely wonderful as they have unbelievable chemistry with each other. Whether they were exchanging some playfully mean banter or both changing as they fell in love, their portrayals of their characters actually felt genuine. Whereas many of the other high school students seemed to be outright archetypes on their own, Kat and Patrick were so much more well-written and developed. Unfortunately, much of this film is held back by Junger's meaningless direction and the script's mismatched dialogue. This movie, just like the play it is based on, is a bit of a tonal mess. While the romantic comedy element is executed well for the most part, there are just so many different characters and subplots happening that the web of motivations and desires became very blurry. The dialogue in this movie is also a bit wack, as every now and then, a character would speak a line in fluent Shakespeare without missing a beat. This could have boded well if the entire film revolved around that aesthetic, but since it was only occasionally, the cheesy outbursts did not exactly fit in. Where this movie failed me the most, however, was its depiction of falling in love. This film does not do much for me in terms of feeling lovey or romantic due to its purely circumstantial depiction of finding "the one." The best relationship throughout this movie is created off of monetary intent and even though Patrick might not have felt that way about Kat in the end, the basis of their relationship still felt a bit coincidental. Thankfully, 10 Things I Hate About You has enough iconic scenes and hilarious lines for it to be remembered by hopeless romantics for years to come. While this film is cute and worth a watch or two, there are not too many spectacular aspects that make me want to instantly go back and revisit.
10 Things I Hate About You is a great romantic comedy that really shows its audience how to make an adaptation of Shakespeare that isn't animated or entirely reliable on period-piece production design. There are a lot of nostalgic pieces of this movie to love and while Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger's performances absolutely steal this film, it is hard not to forget about the charming, if also a bit dated, aspects of the rest of this movie.
My Rating: ★★★
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