Editor Reviews:

Description:
A cool cast of young stars is just one of the things you'll love about this hilarious comedy hit! On the first day at his new school, Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt -- HALLOWEEN: H2O, TV's "3RD Rock From The Sun") instantly falls for Bianca (Larisa Oleynik -- THE BABY SITTERS CLUB), the gorgeous girl of his dreams. The only problem is that Bianca is forbidden to date ... until her ill-tempered, completely un-dateable older sister Kat (Julia Stiles -- THE BOURNE IDENTITY, SAVE THE LAST DANCE) goes out too! In an attempt to solve his problem, Cameron singles out the only guy who could possibly be a match for Kat: a mysterious bad-boy (Heath Ledger -- A KNIGHT'S TALE, THE PATRIOT) with a nasty reputation of his own! Also featuring a hip soundtrack -- this witty comedy is a wildly entertaining look at exactly how far some guys will go to get a date!

Amazon.com:
It's, like, Shakespeare, man! This good-natured and likeable update of The Taming of the Shrew takes the basics of Shakespeare's farce about a surly wench and the man who tries to win her and transfers it to modern-day Padua High School. Kat Stratford (Julia Stiles) is a sullen, forbidding riot grrrl who has a blistering word for everyone; her sunny younger sister Bianca (Larisa Oleynik) is poised for high school stardom. The problem: overprotective and paranoid Papa Stratford (a dryly funny Larry Miller) won't let Bianca date until boy-hating Kat does, which is to say never. When Bianca's pining suitor Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) gets wind of this, he hires the mysterious, brooding Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger) to loosen Kat up. Of course, what starts out as a paying gig turns to true love as Patrick discovers that underneath her brittle exterior, Kat is a regular babe. The script, by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith, is sitcom-funny with peppy one-liners and lots of smart teenspeak; however, its cleverness and imagination doesn't really extend beyond its characters' Renaissance names and occasional snippets of real Shakespearean dialogue. What makes the movie energetic and winning is the formula that helped make She's All That such a big hit: two high-wattage stars who look great and can really act. Ledger is a hunk of promise with a quick grin and charming Aussie accent, and Stiles mines Kat's bitterness and anger to depths usually unknown in teen films; her recitation of her English class sonnet (from which the film takes its title) is funny, heartbreaking, and hopelessly romantic. The imperious Allison Janney (Primary Colors) nearly steals the film as a no-nonsense guidance counselor secretly writing a trashy romance novel. --Mark Englehart

Rating : - 10 Things I Hate About You
For all its hip dialogue and contemporary ideologies, "10 Things I Hate About You" uses a plot so ancient that the very thought of it conjures up images of studio executives passing out scripts made of papyrus scrolls. Amazingly enough, thanks to a few smart touches and a competent cast, the film retains an undeniable charm that is felt throughout most of the movie.

The chemistry between Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger is the high point of the film. Their romance is genuine and effective and at times I wished that their characters would head out for the horizon instead of staying locked down to the conventions of the story, which remains frustratingly faithful to the traditional boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl formula. Simultaneously, the screenwriters have also found time to incorporate an assembly line of scenes found in almost every other high school romantic comedy including an obligatory party sequence and an emotional climax at the prom. The only moment of pure originality finds Ledger's character dancing across the bleachers of the school's football stadium whilst professing his love for the Stiles character.

All of this is allegedly based on William Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew", but it is more or less used as a crutch and a platform for a series of not-so-subtle winks at the camera. For example, most of the action takes place at the fictitious Padua High School and the two leads are named Patrick Verona and Katarina Stratford. The whole effect feels contrived and the picture would have been better off without it.

Nevertheless, we still have Stiles and Ledger at the center and complimenting their performances is a breezy soundtrack and a few praiseworthy supporting players, including Allison Janney as a horny high school counselor and Daryl "Chill" Mitchell as a passionate English teacher who raps the words of Shakespeare to great effect. Imagine if the writers had taken a cue from the Mitchell character and turned the project into a Shakespeare-inspired rap musical. That would have been interesting!