It’s hard to feel optimistic about a high school comedy whose press kit trumpets the tagline “Romeo, Oh Romeo, get out of my face!” One pictures that Elizabethan dude, William Shakespeare, spinning in his grave at the thought of yet another vapid teen movie based on one of his plays. But “10 Things I Hate About You,” a loose remake of “The Taming of the Shrew,” is a mostly charming comedy that could probably win over even the crustiest English literature professor.
Much of the film’s success lies in the ingenuity of Will’s plot. Though mighty attractive, teens Katarina Stratford and Patrick Verona are considered the two scariest, freakiest kids at Padua High School, and through their hostility, they manage to keep everyone, especially each other, at arm’s length. The school stud, Joey Donner, and a new kid named Cameron James both want to date Kat’s dull yet pretty sister Bianca, but according to a parental edict, nobody can go out with Bianca until the shrewish Kat snags a boyfriend. Bummer, huh?
But no challenge is too daunting for a hormonally charged suitor, no matter what century it is. To get around Mr. Stratford’s strict edict, Cameron and his conniving pal Michael come up with a plan to get rich kid Joey to pay scary Patrick to date Kat. Got that? Of course, Cameron and Michael’s plan involves getting Bianca to somehow fall for Cameron instead of Joey. No one much cares what happens between Kat and Patrick.
But between acerbic asides, the battling duo hits it off, and it’s quite entertaining to watch. As Patrick, Australian Heath Ledger exudes a raffish, masculine charm, and sparks visibly fly between him and his co-star, the feisty Julia Stiles. Stiles is careful not to portray Kat as a shrieking harridan, and makes her character’s sarcasm seem the logical product of a young woman who feels constrained both by her overbearing father and by her clique-ish, conservative high school.
In their effort to give this Shakespearean vehicle a fresh spin, the actors were aided by screenwriters Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith and by the director, TV sitcom veteran Gil Junger, who avoids the most obvious cliches of teen films. It isn’t shoved down our throats that Kat may be angry because her mom left the family three years earlier, and though the film’s dialogue is sprightly and sarcastic, it’s not completely devoid of emotion and depth. When Patrick and Kat fall for each other — and when Kat finds out why Patrick initially asked her out — the characters’ feelings of affection and betrayal feel real.
Adding to the overall sense of snappy fun are excellent performances by David Krumholtz as the scheming, nerdy Michael, Joseph-Gordon Levitt (from TV’s “3rd Rock from the Sun”) as the sensitive Cameron, and Larry Miller as the Stratford girls’ hyper-protective father. A few subplots don’t quite gel, and the film seems a bit overlong, but methinks I shouldn’t protest these flaws too much.
But despite the film’s winning qualities, there is a more serious concern. Since this comedy is aimed at the teen market, and indeed bears a PG-13 rating, one has to wonder about the messages being sent in a film where the lead female character admits to losing her virginity in 9th grade, where high schoolers are shown guzzling beer and tequila at a party, and where frequent sex, and even more frequent references to sex, are accepted as a given. The characters don’t necessarily react positively to all these cultural parameters, but still, these factors unfortunately reinforce the kids-behaving-like-adults glibness that is the hallmark of slick TV shows such as “Dawson’s Creek” and films such as “Cruel Intentions.”
Maybe I’m longing for the more innocent era of “Sixteen Candles,” but I’m sure even Will himself would tell me that in these jaded times, such a return to the past is not to be.
”10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU”
(star) (star) (star)
Directed by Gil Junger; written by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith; photographed by Mark Irwin; edited by O. Nicholas Brown; production designed by Carol Winstead Wood; music by Richard Gibbs; produced by Andrew Lazar. A Touchstone Pictures release; opens Wednesday. Running time: 1:34. MPAA rating: PG-13 (language).
THE CAST
Patrick Verona …………….. Heath Ledger
Katarina Stratford …………. Julia Stiles
Cameron James ………. Joseph-Gordon Levitt
Bianca Stratford …………. Larisa Oleynik
Michael Eckman ………….. David Krumholtz
Joey Donner ………………. Andrew Keegan
