You can't fault this one, it just aint typical.

Rating: Null/10 (4 March 2001)

When hiring this movie was first suggested I turned up my nose at it. I thought, another teenagers flick where the hottest guy in school has to appreciate a lesser unpopular chick etc etc etc. Since seeing it it has enterred my all time favourites list. Any old somebody can take the formula of The Taming of the Shrue and put it into a school yard, and any old somebody can avoid cle she's in the finer details, coming up with decent alternatives is the hard part, whatever they did here works like clockwork. I would easily give it the best teen flick mantle.
Firstly, the acting is perfect, the roles are not overly demanding but Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger play this to perfection. The supporting cast is great aswell, there is not a soul that doesn't contribute to the perfection of it all. Realism is neither what they were really going for nor what makes the movie. The language and vocabulary of these kids is phenominal, words like, Vapid, Pensive, Hanus, Tempestuous, Miscreants. There are lots of words like these throughout the movie. It is the thing that does the most to enable adult enjoyment.
For once they avoided the school bully theme, the bad guy in this is just a model who the chicks like and some of the guys hang with and alot of others just realise he is a fool. The recessive geek role is this time given alot more credibility, he is given the majority of the genuinely witty one liners and finds a soul mate for himself, instead of them just making it a joke that he stays a joke. There are a few parts you can really cheer in, you have to watch it to appreciate them. There is truly never a dull moment.

The best quote of the whole movie would have to be "it's just an excuse for all the nerds at our school to rub up against each other to distract themselves from the pathetic emptiness of thier meaningless consumer driven lives" that pretty much sums up the purpose of teen parties these days. For once you actually identify with the "bitch" role in this, both she and the guy that is falsely pursuing her take a backward step, usually when it comes time for the leading man to apolagise for his deceit you really cant believe him after they have focused for so long on his efforts, this time for some reason you do, it fits straight into the story. There is another half to that situation here aswell but I wont disclose, it is probably the best bit of the movie.
And the last major point is that this time the father character is a hell of alot stronger than before, if that had been weak so would the rest of the movie have been, but he is not. He has a reason for being there and you identify with him aswell. It is clear to see they were making the characters all strong in thier own right and stronger than the actual story.
To sum it all up the characters, story and acting are all perfect, adults can enjoy this one aswell, also because the main relationships are more stable and adult than the unpredictability of true teenage relationships, if they can be called such. So here is the count.
Production Values 2/2, Acting 2/2, Quality and Meaning 1.5/2, Screenplay 2/2, Originality 1/2
Anyone can get something from this movie and most can get alot. This is a must. For the movie it is I would give it 10 but going by the main qualities listed above which all movies can be measured by it would get
8.5/10