A excellent adaptation of a classic

Rating: 9/10 (6 July 2012)

I don't tend to do reviews of films as I watch films I like and like the films I watch. Films that I have no interest in or don't like I don't watch. Therefore most of my reviews come out as gushing sections of superlative prose, showing only positive criticism of anything. My reviews don't tend to give any negative comments. However this film deserves my praise.
This film is a case in point. I love it.
I was 25 when this film was released and so was arguably at or above the age range that this was targeted at. I was aware of this when I choose to watch it, and being male was a little quiet about my willingness / keenness to watch it.
I generally don't re-watch films. There are a few exceptions; epics like Lord of the Rings; classics like Star Wars and comedies like Spaceballs, Hot Shots and Monty Python. Even then I haven't watched them that many times. However 'Ten Things I hate about you' I have watched again and again – not obsessively five times in a day, but probably once a year (or more) since it was released.
Why do I keep coming back to this film? I don't know, but everything about it exudes quality. I'm male, cantankerous, stubborn and cynical but this film is emotional and of such a calibre that it affects me each time.
The plot is not simple, it is a number of different people and how one persons goal affects and intertwines them all. Only later did I discover that this was based on Taming of the Shrew by Shakespeare, no wonder it presents as a well written and carefully thought out story.
The acting from all the main parts, lead and supporting roles are excellent. Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger play the main leads with superb skill, as if the roles were made for them. The music is all well chosen and exactly appropriate to the scenes.
But what makes it for me, what holds the whole film together as an excellent portrayal of a superb story is the overprotective but exquisitely loving and caring character that is the father to the main female protagonist. Larry Miller does an excellent job of giving the story meaning and holding all the story together. Without this father figure with his rule about dating for his daughters, there would be no story.
It is slightly predictable, but in away that doesn't distract from the film in anyway.
It is one of my favourites, and I suspect always will be, despite not being sci-fi or fantasy based, despite being a little chick flick, despite being based on a classic work of literature.
The film just works. 9/10