Review of 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) by Victor T — 11 Sep 2014

When you think about Shakespeare, the first thing that comes to mind are his dramatic works like Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet and Hamlet. But Shakespeare is also the author of some memorable comedies and an excellent example of this is "The Taming of the Shrew" which deservedly got a modernization under the name "10 Things I Hate About You".

Cameron James is a new student at Padua High School who falls in love with one of the popular girls of the school, Bianca Stratford. Cameron tries his best to make an impression on Bianca but her overbearing father won't let her date unless her outcast older sister Kat dates. Motivated, Cameron comes up with a plan to date Bianca: Paying another outcast, Patrick Verona, to date Kat.

Teen films normally pass along without notice and the idea of modernizing a classic Shakespeare story has been done before, in the mixed received Romeo+Juliet , but "10 Things I Hate About You" is more than your average teen romantic comedy film. "Honoring" the film´s title I decided I'm going to mention 10 things I liked about this movie: 1) This modern take of "The Taming of the Shrew" counts with surprisingly good writing which succeed in making justice to its source material. 2) Heath Ledger's performance is the best thing about this film; it truly shows Ledger´s acting abilities. 3) The onscreen chemistry between Stiles and Ledger is fantastic and helps the character development. 4) Gil Junger´s direction may be just adequate but it fits perfectly with the writing and vibe of this film. 5) It counts with actually funny, and somewhat clever, comedy with a perfect timing. 6) It doesn't follow the "teen movie have unrealistic dialog that falls flat" cliché, it counts with natural and believable dialog. 7) The supporting characters are a joy to watch in their few scenes. 8) The important characters are relatable; one of them will probably remind you a little about yourself in high school. 9) A perfect pacing that takes advantage of every minute of this 90 minute film. 10) The entertaining and fun values are high in this film. My only big complain with this movie is that once the relationship between Kat and Patrick appear, it completely overshadowed Cameron´s story.

"10 Things I Hate About You" managed to become one of the most memorable and enjoyable teen films thanks to its clever writing and solid cast.