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Director: Gil Junger Screenplay: Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith Starring: Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Larisa Oleynik, David Krumholtz, Andrew Keegan, Larry Miller, Daryl "Chill" Mitchell, Allison Janney Running Time: 90 minutes Studio: Touchstone MPAA Rating: PG-13 |
10 Things I Hate About You is a pleasant surprise, considering its run-of-the-mill prom plot. It's charming and energetic, shaping its familiar story around William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. The script, by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith, uses Shakespeare as more than an idea. Some concepts and scenes take off directly from the source material. (For an example of how not to use Shakespeare in a teen prom comedy, check out Never Been Kissed next weekend.)
Two sisters, Bianca (Larisa Oleynik) and Kat (Julia Stiles) Stratford, are forbidden by their father (Larry Miller, in one of his more agreeable roles) to date. Or rather, daddy forbids Bianca to date until Kat does. "That's not fair! She's a mutant!" Bianca protests - which is another Hollyweirdism...even mutant, social outcasts must be attractive. (See also the inferior She's All That.)
Plans are afoot to get Bianca that date, though. Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a new kid at Padua High (Padua, geddit?), is so enamored of Bianca that he throws in on a scheme to bribe senior class Bad Dude Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger) to ask Kat out. Half of the deal works - Kat and Patrick go out on a date, but Bianca has her eyes set on male model Joey Donner (Andrew Keegan).
Yep, it sounds like just another high school flick, but the little flashes of humor leaven the mixture: Daryl "Chill" Mitchell, as an English teacher, raps out a few lines of Shakespeare; Patrick tries an impromptu serenade from the football bleachers to win Kat's heart; Miss Perky (Allison Janney), the school counselor, taps out romance novels between counseling sessions; and David Krumholtz (The Santa Clause) has a fun role as an AV geek who plays go-between for Gordon and Bianca. Some original Shakespeare is sprinkled into the dialogue, and actually sounds good and unaffected.
There are a couple of dead spots - Steven's "escape" from detention, Bianca and Gordon researching Kat's likes and dislikes, Joey drawing something obscene on someone's face - and a couple of transitional scenes seem to be missing. Still, director Gil Junger keeps things moving, and has a great feel for crowd shots.
