one of the best teen movies ever

Rating: 10/10 (26 May 2010)

Ah, teen movies. If you've seen one, you've seen them all. We've all memorized the formula and the variables by now. Jocks, cheerleaders, outcasts, the boy/girl next door, or loners must overcome either social status, circumstances beyond their control, or the expectations of others, in order to win the prize, which is usually the heart of a particularly good-looking member of the opposite sex. Teen movies tend to be set in a high school, so that we get to see all of the above social groups together in action, and they tend to involve numerous elements of "yeah rightlike that would ever really happen." 10 Things I Hate About You has all of the above.
AND YET...this movie is amazing. Thanks to an excellent cast, fine performances, a good soundtrack, and above all, an amazingly witty script, 10 Things I Hate About You is one of the best teen movies around. Loosely based on William Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew," this movie is a must-see. (No, I won't list "10 Reasons I Love 10 Things I Hate About You. Although I'm sure I could name 10.) The story is fairly simple: new guy Cameron (variable: boy next door) comes to Padua High, where he is shown the ropes by former A/V god Michael (variable: geek). Cameron immediately spots the beautiful Bianca Stratford (variable: gorgeous shallow airhead), and immediately falls in love. There's only one problem: Bianca's overbearing protective OB/GYN father refuses to let her date until her sister Kat (variable: loner) dates. Male model Joey Donner (variable: jock) also wants to date Bianca, so he pays bad boy Patrick Verona (variable: bad boy) to date Kat. Of course, Patrick ends up falling for Kat, and Bianca blows off the sweet and perfect-for-her Cameron for the self-absorbed Joey, until Cameron illustrates the difference between a gentleman and a user, and it's revealed that Joey was just planning to nail Bianca at prom, if you know what I mean. Needless to say, Bianca learns her lesson, punches Joey in the face and chooses Cameron, and after their own share of relationship problems, which culminate in Kat's reading of her sonnet appropriately titled "Ten Things I Hate About You," Patrick and Kat fall in love and no doubt end up living happily ever after.
Julia Stiles plays the female lead role of Kat Stratford, a high school senior with a reputation for being aloof and cold. She doesn't wear makeup or jewelry, likes girl bands and guitars, and doesn't give a damn what anyone thinks about her. She regards prom as an event where students "get all dressed up, so some Drakkar Noir-wearing dexter with a boner can feel you up while you're forced to listen to a band that, by definition, blows." Stiles delivers her sharp one-liner opinions and social observations with pitch-perfect sarcasm, and yet somehow manages to never let her audience forget that Kat is human and has a softer – maybe even vulnerable! – side. Stiles' role is a refreshing reminder to teens that "you don't always have to be what they want you to be," and we never doubt that Kat truly doesn't care what other people think of her, and that she does what she wants for her own benefit.
Kat's sister Bianca, as played by the perfectly cast Larisa Oleynik, is the polar opposite. Bianca is beautiful and shallow, and "happens to like being adored, thank you." Oleynik portrays Bianca's shallowness and conceit perfectly, and yet we still like Bianca because she is still innocent and unaware of what a user Joey "eat me" Donner is. One of Oleynik's best moments is when Cameron calls her out on her selfishness; Bianca admits to being selfish and conceited, and her embarrassment and shame are evident without her saying a word. Though she isn't given as much to work with as Stiles, Oleynik manages to shine in her role.
The rest of the cast: Heath Ledger as Patrick Verona, Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Cameron James, David Krumholtz as Michael, Andrew Keegan as Joey, Larry Miller as Walter Stratford, and particularly Allison Janney as the guidance counselor, are simply superb. Heath Ledger's bad boy role softens as the movie progresses, until the guy who drilled a hole in Cameron's French textbook encourages him to pursue Bianca because he's "ten times the man Joey is." Gordon-Levitt is first-rate as the sweet boy-next-door Cameron, and his awkward sincerity and heart of gold are established from his first scene. Krumholtz and Keegan are perfect in their respective roles of geek and jerk, and Larry Miller and Allison Janney are simply sensational as the heads of the adult cast. Watch Janney's two-scene cameo in particular – you will be in awe of how hilarious this woman can really be. And finally, the script. Each line seems to have been injected with as much wit and hilarity as possible. Writers Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith have carefully sculpted almost every line to fit each particular character perfectly. The delivery and timing of each jab at teen society is brilliant. 10 Things I Hate About You has it all: a perfect cast, an incredible script, and an awesome soundtrack. See it now.