10 Things I Hate About You

10 Things I Hate About You is a 1999 American teen romantic comedy film directed by Gil Junger and starring Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Larisa Oleynik. The screenplay, by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith, is a modernization of William Shakespeare's comedy The Taming of the Shrew, retold in a late-1990s American high school setting. The film follows new student Cameron (Gordon-Levitt) who is smitten with Bianca (Oleynik) and, in order to get around her father's strict rules on dating, attempts to get bad boy Patrick (Ledger) to date Bianca's antisocial sister, Kat (Stiles). The film is named after a poem Kat writes about her romance with Patrick. Much of the filming took place in the Seattle metropolitan area, with many scenes shot at Stadium High School in Tacoma, Washington.
Released on March 31, 1999, 10 Things I Hate About You grossed over $60 million and received generally positive reviews from critics. It had breakthrough roles for Stiles, Ledger, and Gordon-Levitt, all of whom were nominated for various teen-oriented awards. The film has since developed a cult following and is considered a classic in the teen film genre. Ten years later, it was adapted into a television reboot, which ran for 20 episodes and featured Larry Miller reprising his role as Walter Stratford.
Plot
Cameron James, a new student at Padua High School in the Seattle area, immediately falls in love with beautiful and popular sophomore Bianca Stratford. Geeky Michael Eckman warns him that she is vapid and conceited, and that her overprotective father does not allow Bianca or her older sister, the shrewish Kat, to date. Kat, a senior, is accepted to Sarah Lawrence College in New York, but her father, Walter, wants her to stay close to home and attend his alma mater University of Washington.
Bianca wishes to date affluent senior Joey Donner, but Walter, an obstetrician worried about teenage pregnancy, will not allow his daughters to date until they graduate. Frustrated by Bianca's insistence and Kat's rebelliousness, Walter declares that Bianca may date only when Kat does, knowing that Kat's antisocial attitude makes this unlikely.
When Cameron asks Bianca out, she informs him of her father's new rule and, as a pretense for allowing her to date Joey, suggests he find someone willing to date Kat. He selects "bad boy" Patrick Verona, but Patrick scares him off. Michael assists by convincing Joey to pay Patrick to take Kat out, under the pretense that this will allow Joey to date Bianca. Patrick agrees to the deal, but Kat rebuffs his first few advances. Michael and Cameron help him by probing Bianca for information on Kat's likes and dislikes. Armed with this knowledge, Patrick begins to win Kat's interest. She goes to a party with him, which enables Bianca to go as well, much to Walter's dismay.
At the party, Kat becomes upset when she sees Bianca with Joey, and responds by getting drunk. Patrick attends to her, and she starts to open up, expressing her interest in starting a band. But when Kat tries to kiss him, Patrick pulls away so she leaves, infuriated. Meanwhile, Bianca ignores Cameron in favor of Joey, leaving Cameron dejected. But Bianca soon realizes that Joey is shallow and self-absorbed, and asks Cameron for a ride home. He admits his feelings for her and his frustration with how she has treated him. Bianca responds by kissing him.
Joey offers to pay Patrick to take Kat to the prom so he can take Bianca. He initially refuses, but relents when he offers him more money. Kat is still angry with Patrick, but he wins her over by serenading her with the accompaniment of the marching band, and she helps him sneak out of detention. They go on a date, which turns romantic, but Kat becomes suspicious and angry when Patrick insists that she go with him to the prom, an event she is adamantly against.
Bianca is irritated that Cameron hasn't asked her to the prom, and so accepts Joey's invitation, but Walter won't allow it unless Kat goes too. Kat confesses to Bianca that she dated Joey when they were freshmen and, succumbing to peer pressure, had sex with him. Afterwards she regretted it and Joey dumped her, so she vowed to never again do anything just because everyone else was doing it. Bianca insists that she can make her own choices, so Kat agrees to go to the prom with Patrick, and Bianca decides to go with Cameron instead of Joey.
All is going well at the prom until Bianca learns that Joey planned to have sex with her that night. Angry that Bianca has spurned him for Cameron, Joey reveals his arrangement with Patrick, which causes Kat to leave, heartbroken. Joey then shoves Michael and punches Cameron, but is in turn beaten up by Bianca for having hurt her, Kat, and Cameron. Bianca and Cameron share another kiss.
The next day, Bianca reconciles with Kat and begins dating Cameron. Walter admits that Kat is capable of taking care of herself, and gives her permission to attend Sarah Lawrence College. For an assignment in which the students were to write their own versions of William Shakespeare's Sonnet 141, Kat reads aloud a poem titled "10 Things I Hate About You", revealing that she still loves Patrick. He surprises her with a Fender Stratocaster bought with the money Joey paid him, and confesses that he has fallen for her. Kat forgives him, and they make up with a kiss.
Cast
Julia Stiles as Katarina "Kat" Stratford, the antisocial, shrewish elder Stratford sister
Heath Ledger as Patrick Verona, the Australian "bad boy" hired to date Kat
Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Cameron James, the new student at Padua High School who is smitten with Bianca and goes to great lengths to win her over
Larisa Oleynik as Bianca Stratford, the younger Stratford sister, superficial and popular
Larry Miller as Walter Stratford, an obstetrician and single parent who is overprotective of his daughters
Andrew Keegan as Joey Donner, an affluent, self-absorbed high school senior and aspiring model who intends to have sex with Bianca, and to that end pays Patrick to date Kat
David Krumholtz as Michael Eckman, a geek who assists Cameron in his quest to woo Bianca, and in the process tries to woo Kat's friend Mandella
Susan May Pratt as Mandella, Kat's only close friend and an aficionado of William Shakespeare who falls for Michael
Gabrielle Union as Chastity Church, Bianca's best friend who later becomes her enemy
Daryl Mitchell as Mr. Morgan, teacher of Kat, Patrick, and Joey's English class
Allison Janney as Ms. Perky, Padua High School's guidance counselor and a writer of erotic literature
David Leisure as Mr. Chapin, coach of the girls' soccer team
Greg Jackson as "Scurvy", a friend of Patrick
Kyle Cease as Bogey Lowenstein, a golf enthusiast and member of a clique of aspiring MBAs
The band Letters to Cleo (singer Kay Hanley, guitarists Greg McKenna and Michael Eisenstein, bassist Scott Riebling, and drummer Jason Sutter) appears as the band performing at Club Skunk, playing their songs "Come On" and "Co-Pilot", and a cover of Cheap Trick's "I Want You to Want Me" on the school's rooftop during the closing credits. Hanley and Eisenstein also appear in the prom scene, performing a cover of Nick Lowe's "Cruel to Be Kind" with Save Ferris.
The band Save Ferris (singer Monique Powell, guitarist Brian Mashburn, bassist Bill Uechi, trumpeter José Castellaños, trombonist Brian Williams, saxophonist Eric Zamora, and drummer Evan Kilbourne) appears as the band performing at the prom, playing their songs "I Know" and "Can't Stop" as well as covers of The Isley Brothers' "Shout" and Nick Lowe's "Cruel to Be Kind".
Production
The script was finalized in November 1997. Many of the scenes were filmed on location at Stadium High School and at a house in the North End of Tacoma, Washington. The prom sequence was shot over three days in Seattle. Costume designer Kim Tillman designed original dresses for Oleynik and Stiles, as well as the period outfits for Pratt and Krumholtz. Union's snakeskin prom dress is a Betsey Johnson design. Ledger's and Gordon-Levitt's vintage tuxes came from Isadora's in Seattle. the scene where Patrick dances on the High School Bleachers, Ledger took inspirations from Showgirls and Fred Astaire. Filming took place from June 8 to August 6, 1998.
Josh Hartnett and Ashton Kutcher were in the running to play Patrick. Eliza Dushku auditioned for the role of Kat. Katie Holmes was also considered for the role. Kate Hudson was offered the part but her mother, didn't like the script, so she passed on the role.
Reception
Box office
In its opening weekend, the film grossed $8.3 million in 2,271 theaters domestically (averaging $3,668 per venue), finishing second at the box office, behind The Matrix. It grossed a total of $38.2 million in the U.S. and Canada, and $15.3 million in other territories, for $53.5 million worldwide.
Critical response
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 71% based on 92 reviews, with an average rating of 6.3/10. The website's critics consensus states: "Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger add strong performances to an unexpectedly clever script, elevating 10 Things (slightly) above typical teen fare." Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 70 out of 100, based on 26 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.
Geoff Andrew from Time Out praised the film's leads, writing, "Stiles grows into her character, and Ledger is effortlessly charming." Brad Laidman of Film Threat said the film was "pure of heart and perfectly executed." Ron Wells, also of Film Threat, wrote, "Of all the teen films released this year, this one is, by far, the best." Roger Ebert gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying that he "liked the movie's spirit, the actors and some of the scenes. The music, much of it by the band Letters to Cleo, is subtle and inventive while still cheerful. The movie almost but not quite achieves liftoff against the gravitational pull of the tired story formula." Entertainment Weekly put the film 49th on its list of Best High School Movies.
Accolades
10 Things I Hate About You provided breakthrough roles for Stiles, Ledger, and Gordon-Levitt. Gordon-Levitt, Stiles, and Oleynik each received Young Star Award nominations for Best Actor/Actress in a Comedy Film. The movie was nominated for seven Teen Choice Awards: Choice Movie: Breakout Star (Stiles), Choice Movie: Comedy, Choice Movie: Funniest Scene (featuring Krumholtz), Choice Movie: Love Scene (featuring Stiles and Ledger), Choice Movie: Hissy Fit (Gordon-Levitt), Choice Movie: Villain (Andrew Keegan) and Choice Movie: Soundtrack. The film's casting directors Marcia Ross and Donna Morong won "Best Casting for Feature Film, Comedy" at the Casting Society of America in 1999. In 2000, Stiles won the CFCA Award for Most Promising Actress (tied with Émilie Dequenne in Rosetta) and an MTV Movie Award for Breakthrough Female Performance. Ledger was also nominated for an MTV Movie Award for Best Musical Performance for the song "Can't Take My Eyes Off You".
Soundtrack
The film's soundtrack album, featuring Letters to Cleo performing cover versions of Cheap Trick's "I Want You to Want Me" and Nick Lowe's "Cruel to Be Kind", stayed on the Billboard 200 chart for seven weeks, peaking at no. 52. Reviewer S. Peeples of AllMusic rated it 3 stars out of 5, calling it "one of the best modern rock soundtracks of the spring 1999 season".
Certifications
Adaptations
In June 1999, the Scholastic Corporation published a novelization of the story, adapted by David Levithan. The story is retold as it is in the film, with each chapter written from the point of view of either Bianca, Cameron, Kat, Patrick, or Michael.
In October 2008, ABC Family ordered a pilot episode of 10 Things I Hate About You, a half-hour, single-camera comedy series based on the film. Larry Miller is the only actor from the film to reprise his role in the TV series. The director of the film, Gil Junger, directed many of the episodes, including the pilot; the film's composer, Richard Gibbs, also returned to do the show's music. The series was adapted and produced by Carter Covington. The show premiered on July 7, 2009, and ended on May 24, 2010, lasting 20 episodes.
References
External links
1999 films
1999 directorial debut films
1990s coming-of-age comedy films
1990s feminist films
1990s high school films
1999 romantic comedy films
1990s teen comedy films
1990s teen romance films
American coming-of-age comedy films
American feminist films
American high school films
American romantic comedy films
American teen comedy films
American teen romance films
Coming-of-age romance films
1990s English-language films
Films about teenagers
Films about proms
Films adapted into television shows
Films based on The Taming of the Shrew
Films directed by Gil Junger
Films scored by Richard Gibbs
Films set in Seattle
Films set in Washington (state)
Films shot in Seattle
Films shot in Washington (state)
Modern adaptations of works by William Shakespeare
Teen films based on works by William Shakespeare
Touchstone Pictures films
Films about sisters
Films about father–daughter relationships
1990s American films