Decidedly above average teenage movie

Rating: Null/10 (13 January 2000)

I wasn't immediately drawn to the idea of a contemporary version of "The Taming of the Shrew", but in the event of watching the film I was won over by its great ensemble of young actors. Actually, I found "10 Things I Hate About You" as a whole, quite a standard, run of the mill teen romancer, but it is peppered with great scenes and frequent funny moments. It is these parts which, for me, make the film, decidedly above average to other teen movies like the sentimental "Never Been Kissed" or the pathetic "Porky's". Heath Ledger does his country proud as Patrick Verona while Julia Stiles is delightfully spiteful as Kat the "Shrew". While Larisa Oleynik was a bit annoying and over the top, she nonetheless made me laugh because her Bianca reminded me of my own sister in many ways, especially her arguments with dad. Most of all, I loved David Krumholtz as the kind-hearted idiot who befriends Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). The bike scene with him had me in stitches. Over-all, highly enjoyable.