Review: 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)

An all-star cast deliver heart-warming appearances in this endearing reworking of William Shakespeare‘s The Taming of the Shrew.

The story is simple, Bianca Stratford (Larisa Oleynik) can’t date until her ‘loser’ sister Kat (Julia Stiles) does; a simple rule emplaced by their father in attempt to secure their virtue. Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and friend Michael (David Krumholtz) see their chance and concoct a plan that sees rogue Patrick (Heath Ledger) being paid to date the troublesome Kat. Andrew Keegan’s Joey may be stereotypical (as all films of this genre seemingly have to include an arrogant school heartthrob) but he is vital to the plot.

Smaller sub-stories enrich the film (including a teacher who is writing an erotic novel in between trying to deal with delinquent students while a teenage school girl lusts after Shakespeare) and the film’s soundtrack seems to encapsulate the pop scene of the late nineties.

Likened to Clueless (1995) due to its successful modernising of a classic tale, 10 Things I Hate About You has acquired cult status, especially after the tragic death of Ledger in 2008.