Frame Your Mind to Mirth and Merriment¹

Rating: Null/10 (8 August 2004)

`10 Things I Hate About You' begins as all teen movies should, with a tour around the high school, someone pointing out the various groups (i.e., stoners, geeks, athletes) for our amusement. This may be the perfect set up; nearly everyone goes to high school and every school has cliques. Grounding us in the familiar is a fair way to prepare us, as high school didn't, for what is about to come.
Reconstituting the theme (and it could use a rewrite) developed by no less a teen story author than William Shakespeare in `Taming of the Shrew', we find that a father has two daughters of which the youngest cannot date until the elder one has done the same. Since the older (Kat, played by Julia Stiles) is an asocial asexual head case, it seems unlikely any boys will get a shot at the far more desirable younger sister (Bianca, as portrayed by Larisa Oleynik). And so the fun begins as a bevy of young men contrive to have school bad-boy legend Patrick (Heath Ledger) hook up with Kat.
As it plays out, no real surprises occur. But the shenanigans and complications which arise as Pat woos Kat and Cameron (Joe Gordon) sets his sights on Bianca are more than pleasantly wrought. In fact watching each rite of passage (house party, prom) is a treat, more than can be credited to most teen flicks.
After a house party which both sisters attend, we see a dramatic thawing of Kat, but not such a change that she is willing to offer a good night kiss to Pat. And so it goes that Pat, initially repulsed (strictly in it for the money) by Kat will move her; nonetheless, she does make it a hard road for him all along the way.
The film breaks down a bit when Pat croons to Kat at soccer practice and plumbs even lower depths when Kat springs Pat from detention. But these are small departures from the overall dynamic. Credit Director Gil Junger - this is his first feature film effort  with putting together a good script (not heavy on the Shakespeare, rapid fire comedic touches delivered with almost no letup) and the kind of actors that can carry off the pace and look good in the bargain. Junger has been a fixture in television for years, having directed for no less than 17 series  as diverse a lot as `Dharma and Greg', `Nurses' and `The Jeff Foxworthy Show'.
As to the supporting cast, there really is no one to not like. In particular Michael (played by veteran David Krumholtz) is great as kind of a sidekick-AV nerd to Joseph Gordon and just watching the former introduce Cameron around the new school as the movie begins is worth seeing. And Michael delivers the set up to the best line in the movie in the lunch line (Pat's response is perfect).
Since this is a comedy, and one that makes no bones about its intent, the acting is suitably droll, at times fleetingly clever but always a shade light. But hearing Julia Stiles deliver the `10 Things' of the movie title is sufficient reward for those seeking some real acting. In no other moment are the actors required to show anything of a serious nature. But as has been mentioned, Shakespeare is the originator of the story, making one wonder: Has there really been an onslaught of Shakespearian-themed movies more recently as critics suggest?
Let's look at some numbers. Using only the key word Shakespeare in searching archival plot summaries, one comes up with the following:
Rotten Tomatoes (# of Hits by Era) - 2000-04 (6) 90's (72) 80's (26) 70's (10) 60's (12) 50's (14)
IMDB (# of Hits by Era) - 2000-04 (21) 90's (34) 80's (13) 70's (9) 60's (3) 50's (5)
However the plot summaries address (or don't address) Shakespearean themes, these searches suggest there are a lot more movies somehow tied to The Bard now than there were then, to put a loose term to it.
Rating: Three Stars.
¹ - Taming of the Shrew - Induction  Line 135