A superior teen comedy

Rating: 8/10 (14 June 2008)

"Teen comedy" and Shakespeare: two concepts that shouldn't fit very well in the same sentence, especially if the former turns out to be an adaptation of a work by the latter, set in the present day. Thankfully, the writers of this film get it right most of the time, which is why 10 Things I Hate About You should be rightfully considered one of the more interesting interpretations of the Bard's works.
One of the smartest moves on the makers' behalf is actually the choice not to reveal the origin of the story: Shakespeare's name isn't mentioned anywhere in the credits. Instead, we get a few playful and fun references to the original author and the comedy The Taming of the Shrew, on which 10 Things is loosely based: the high school where most of the action unfolds is called Padua (the city where The Taming takes place), the female protagonist's last name is Stratford (Shakespeare's place of birth) and the male main character is named Verona, after the town where Romeo & Juliet was set.
Instead of two ill-fated lovers, we have two people who can't stand each other: Kat Stratford (Julia Stiles), the "shrew" who refuses to socialize with anyone, and Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger), an Australian textbook rebel who allegedly served jail time for setting a cop on fire. Thw two are brought together thanks to the actions of a younger boy, Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who has a crush on Kat's sister Bianca (Marisa Oleynik). Unfortunately for him, her father (Larry Miller) won't let her date guys until Kat dates someone as well, and since no one will spontaneously go out with Kat, Cameron and is friend Michael (David Krumholtz) come up with the idea of paying Patrick to ensure everyone gets their happy ending.
Naturally, as in all rom-coms starring teenagers, things get a little more complicated than that, and so the entire third act is about how everyone screws up and has to fix the mess they caused. It's all quite predictable, but that doesn't lessen the movie's appeal: sure, it'a very traditional genre comedy, but it's executed with wit and pace, both delivered by sparkling dialogue and above-average performances. Stiles, best known for more troubled roles, pulls off the difficult task of making Kat sympathetic in spite of her apparent coldness, while Ledger, in the part that got him noticed in Hollywood, goes beyond a mere "brooding thug" clichè. So much of the movie is in their hands one wishes there was less focus on Gordon-Levitt and Oleynik, who might provide the tools for setting the story in motion, but also happen to be incredibly daft compared to the main couple and constitute the film's biggest flaw (paired with an embarrassing paint-ball scene). Fortunately, that kind of blandness is compensated by a terrific adult cast, most notably Miller (familiar to Seinfeld fans) and Allison Janney, whose two-scene cameo easily qualifies as the best laugh in the whole picture.
To summarize, romantic comedies aren't always that good, especially when teenagers are part of the main plot, but when they work, the result can be something as warm and funny as 10 Things I Hate About You. Then again, the Shakespearean roots of the screenplay must have helped a great deal too.