Review of 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) by Kevin H — 09 Nov 2014

10 Things About I Hate About You does not re-invent the genre, or really add anything to it in any way at all. However, it is the quirky humour and the strong cast that make this film a very solid rom-com.

Katherine Stratford (Julia Stiles) is an antisocial girl who is a pain in the ass to her sister, Bianca (Lisa Oleynik). Her father will only allow Bianca to date if Katherine gets a date too. So as she wants to get on with dreamy Joey (Andrew Keegan), they go into a plan to get rebellious, tough guy Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger) to date Katherine, what seems an impossible task between two explosive personalities.

The film respects the rom-com formula to the point, with all the cliches we learned to love (Not really). The chemistry between Stiles and Ledger is very good, but they are also extremely likeable besides being complete killjoys, and that is mainly thanks to the really good script written by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith. The narrative is predictable,but the jokes come in non-stop bursts, and most of them are really effective. During the second half, I was laughing my ass off, and the rest of the film got me into succesive chuckles. Gil Junger also directs the film very well, with lots of stylish sequences and gimmicks, and an innate knack for comedy that is irresistible, just as Julia Stiles, the real star of the movie. Oh, and Joseph Gordon Levitt fans will find him very pleasing as well in one of his first roles, as well as hilarious sidekick Michael Eckman (The charming David Krumholtz). Not to mention the toungue-in-cheek cameos from Allison Janney and Daryl "Chill" Mitchell.

If you are looking for a good time, considering the amount of absurdity and the short duration, 10 Things I Hate About You is adviseable. It may be forgettable, but you won't want that hour-and-a-half of your life back.