Charisma, Romance, Ledger, Icon Discussion

Rating: 8/10 (30 June 2012)

I will talk about the movie a little bit in this review and then I will talk more about just Heath Ledger. First off, This is a very romantic and cute movie to watch. All the romance is genuine and terrific. The chemistry is really there with the two different couples(Ledger and Stiles, Oleynik and Gordon-Levitt) and you like the characters, you dislike the bad guys and it has one of the most romantic scenes in history where Ledger's character sings to Stiles' character on the Football field.
This is a classic and it's where I first noticed Heath Ledger. This is a movie where the character that Ledger plays should not be liked this much, and Ledger brought this character to such a deep level that only a great actor like Ledger could do. Only time will tell if Heath Ledger will become a Movie Icon, but I think it's fair to say with performances like this one and many others that he had, he most certainly will.
I think what makes a great movie icon is the fact that the actor/actress has to be a great actor(with a few exceptions) and they also have to have a lot of likability about them, which co-exists with good acting as well as co-exists with a certain humility about that actor/actress. A few examples are James Dean and John Wayne.
People forget John Wayne was a fantastic actor and he was such a cool guy and the same goes for James Dean as well. You could identify with Wayne and Dean through their extreme likability and great acting. Patrick Swayze wasn't the greatest actor but he had extreme likability, and I think over time he'll be a movie icon too.
And to kind of give an example more about the likability factor, in Heath Ledger's last film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, 4 actors played the same character(because Heath Ledger had passed away and 3 other actors did the part to finish up the film). All 4 actors were good in their own way. The 4 actors were Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell. Now Johnny Depp will be a Movie Icon, no doubt about that, he already kind of is.
But my point is, Heath Ledger was the only actor as the character in the movie, who would really let you in, really let you in to a part of his soul. The other 3 actors were great, but they had some distance to them, you could appreciate their acting, but you couldn't get into them as a person/a human being. Ledger had always been very charismatic with all his roles, and he didn't have distance, he always let the audience in close to him, into his soul almost, into his humanity and you never quite get that from Johnny Depp, Jude Law, or Colin Farell, all great actors, but they're always a little distant in all their roles, with the exception of Farell who will let you in with certain roles he's played.
I think Heath Ledger will be a great Movie Icon over time and he is also the big reason why 10 Things I Hate About You was such a great and special kind of movie. Heath Ledger let you into his humanity in this movie, and because of that, 10 Things I Hate About You wasn't just your usual teeny bop, cheesy romance movie. It had some substance, it had some real driven emotions, sincere humanity and love to it.
You don't usually find that kind of substance within a film like this one, in this genre, but because of Heath Ledgers performance in particular and the other ones, 10 Things I Hate About You is a very romantic, very special and great movie to watch by yourself or with the girl or guy you love.