Delightful humor, surprisingly sensitive and realistic, excellent acting!

Rating: 10/10 (24 May 2006)

When this film came out in theaters, the title itself repelled me; I expected a shallow plot from such a title. But after seeing Julia Stiles in several films, and Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain, I became curious and rented the video. I did not expect to watch this movie three times, but that's precisely what I've done.
This film is so much fun. It contains upbeat, intelligent humor (even for this over-fifty female), and it has a lot depth as well. I could particularly identify with "Kat" (Julia Stiles' character), not because of her "bitchiness," which we see on the surface, but because the anger, pain and self-loathing reflected beneath her "I don't give a rat's ass" attitude was so poignantly and sympathetically portrayed. Stiles is a talented actress, bringing sensitivity and a quality of tension, frustration, hope and despair through the moods and angst of her teenage character.
Heath Ledger is delightful as Patrick, the "bad boy" whose reputation is larger than his real life persona. In fact, it is Ledger's understated facial expressiveness that indicates his character's increasingly engaging personality. Ledger's character brings forth an unexpected quality of wisdom in his interactions that both surprised and pleased me.
The chemistry between Stiles and Ledger dances between charming and incendiary, innocent and wise, graceful and awkward, humorous and sensitive  quite as one would expect two teenagers on the brink of adulthood to act. Well done!
The supporting characters are also well defined, though they are a little bit stereotyped, but it is their agendas, of course, which create the action and push the plot forward: Because of their father's fears, Kat and her younger sister are not allowed to date until after they graduate from high school. This doesn't bother Kat because wants nothing to do with guys, but Bianca desperately wants to go out. On a whim, their father changes the rules: Bianca can date when Kat dates. Bianca, Cameron and Joey (the two guys who want to date Bianca) and Cameron's "master-mind" buddy Michael contrive find a way to get Patrick to date. And from that, all manner of delightful chaos ensues.
As with many supporting roles, the characters of Bianca, Cameron, Joey, and the girls' father bring other dimensions into the mix. Though they are subordinate to the leads, their agendas generate the action. Several other minor characters (the guidance counselor and the literature teacher) add to the tapestry of interest and humor, giving the plot a quirky humanity, and an unusual depth for this type of film.
Will I watch it again? To quote a potent line in a more recent Ledger film, "You bet!"