One Thing I Hate About You is Your Lack of Originality

Rating: 10/10 (1 April 1999)

Let me preface my comments by saying I enjoyed this movie. It was definitely cute, fun and at one point, side-splitting hilarious. The big problem I have, though, is that it follows the IDENTICAL (aargh!) template to every other teen film ever made, campy Shakepeare references notwithstanding. I must admit I'm getting a wee bit tired of seeing a social outcast having to be convinced to go to the prom/dance/house party (She's All That, Carrie 2) where she can find out she was just a bet (She's All That, Cruel Intentions, Carrie 2), although the striptease on the kitchen table is indeed a new wrinkle. Please, stop putting grunge chicks on the screen and trying to convince me they're the ultimate sex symbols (Carrie 2, The Craft, The Faculty). I already know that. Cease and desist with the nerd wins babe routine (Can't Buy Me Love, The Faculty). I've tried it, it doesn't work.
Couldn't Touchstone, with their oodles of dough, have given us something the least bit creative? That said, I refer you to my opening sentence and tell you I plan to see this flick at least twice more, if only to try and get a glimpse of what Julia Stiles is flashing.