If there was one movie I wished I watched when I was actually in high school it is this one. Released in 1999, this movie is actually based on the Shakespeare play The Taming of the Shrew, only set in modern high school times. Even if you are not in high school this movie is still pretty awesome to watch. Spoiler alert as always. I DO NOT OWN THE PICTURE.
The Stratford sisters could not be any more different. Bianca (Larisa Oleynik) is popular, self-absorbed and ready to date, while her older sister Kat (Julia Stiles) is anti-social, shrewish and doesn’t really care what people think of her. Their overprotective obstetrician father Walter (Larry Miller) only has one rule: Bianca may date only if Kat is. This infuriates Bianca who has her eyes set on popular student and senior Joey Donner (Andrew Keegan) a model, very self-absorbed and only wants to sleep with Bianca. Cameron James (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) a new student at Pauda High School falls for Bianca as soon as he sees her, much to the objections of his new friend Michael Eckman (David Krumholtz) and after Bianca tells him of her father’s rule asks him to find someone for Kat to date (he doesn’t know Bianca has sights on Joey). Cameron and Michael find the perfect person: bad boy Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger) a guy who has many stories about him (whether or not they are true irrelevant). Unable to approach Patrick immediately, Cameron and Michael reluctantly approach Joey asking him to pay Patrick to go out with Kat under the pretense of getting Bianca. Patrick does agree, but Kat rebuffs him at first. When Cameron and Michael give him some information Kat’s shield slowly start to go down. Along the way Patrick starts to fall for Kat as well, Bianca must decide whether Cameron or Joey is right for her and Michael tries to woo Kat’s friend and Shakespeare lover Mandella (Susan May Pratt). Also featured in this film is Bianca’s selfish friend Chasity (Gabrielle Union), Mr. Morgan (Daryl “Chill” Mitchell before his motorcycle accident) an English teacher who does not put up with a lot from his students, and Ms. Perky (Allison Janney) a guidance counselor who enjoys writing let’s call it very adult novels in her spare time.
I love this movie so much, and thankfully when it came out I was not the only one. This proved to be break-out roles for many of its stars, including Ledger, Stiles and Gordon-Levitt. Julia Stiles has become an actress I admired for a long time and this for me is one of her best roles, there are times in this move when I really identify with Kat. Larisa Oleynik is pretty good as Bianca as she slowly grows out of become a selfish person and realizes who actually cares for her. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is an incredible actor and his role as Cameron is perfect. Larry Miller is hilarious as the over-protective dad, David Krumholtz is very funny as Michael, Andrew Keegan is such a horrible person as Joey (which is a good thing), Janney and Mitchell are fantastic as the teachers; however the break-out star for me is Heath Ledger as Patrick Verona, the bad boy all the good girls want to tame (let’s not forget his performance of Frankie Valli’s “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You, one of the most talked about moments in the movie even if you haven’t watched it). Everyone is amazing in this movie; the writing is incredible and has some pretty memorable scenes. A television series was released in 2009 but did not last too long (almost a shame). I would highly recommend 10 Things I Hate About You as a must watch as soon as possible. I hope you guys enjoy it if you have yet to watch it.
Films or Television Worth Watching 