10 Things I Hate About You
"What say you to a piece of beef and mustard?" That Shakespeare, eh? He knew how to cut to the chase. Sadly, this line (along with many others) does not survive into a lively teen adaptation of The Taming Of The Shrew, though essence and theme remain intact.
Canny dad Walter Stratford (Larry Miller, on top form) has banned youngest daughter - tempting tease Bianca (Larisa Oleynik) - from having a boyfriend until her elder sibling - bitter, bitchy Katarina (Julia Stiles) - gets one too, an event about as likely as the Infernal Regions suffering a chilly spell.
And so a questionable plan is hatched: Bianca's would-be beau Cameron James (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) will bribe Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger) to take Kat on at least one date, freeing Bianca for romance too.
There's a problem, though. Even if Kat's hissy, spiky temperament were not geared to repel any and every approach, Patrick is a moody loner with a mysterious, shrouded past - which may or may not have involved burning down his previous school - and has no interest whatsoever in a girl this icy, acid-tongued, but-clearly-quite-attractive-nevertheless.
So Cameron somehow convinces loaded school smarm Joey Donner (Andrew Keegan) to front some cash in the form of a bet, eventually putting up a high enough stake to pique Patrick's interest, and the plan seems set. Except that unknown to Cameron, Bianca harbours desires for Joey, so even if the ruse succeeds, things may not work exactly as he hopes.
More often than not, this sort of film is plagued with a painful mediocrity of the teen telly series order, and early on, warning bells are clanging loud and clear with colourful, high school hallways and clear-skinned, cliche-spouting kids.
But then Larry Miller enters the frame with a distinctly left-of-centre support role which arrests your attention and serves notice that some surprises will be in store. And so it proves.
Gordon-Levitt and Oleynik are made to toe a standard line admittedly, but there's real spark in the performances of Ledger and Stiles, who seem desperate to instil some bite and sideways humour, and are rewarded for their efforts when the script eventually catches up.
Patrick's crooning of Can't Take My Eyes Off You to Kat and an entire sports field of gob-smacked footballers, cheerleaders and spectators is a master-stroke of cringe-worthy potential turned on its head.
And yes, as this suggests, it's cheesy in places, but with a good few laughs (largely grabbed by Miller and no-nonsense English teacher Daryl Mitchell) and the script's spiteful slant, there's an agreeably wicked tang to this uplifting, undemanding multiplex fluff.
"What say you to a piece of beef and mustard?" That Shakespeare, eh? He knew how to cut to the chase. Sadly, this line (along with many others) does not survive into a lively teen adaptation of The Taming Of The Shrew, though essence and theme remain intact.
Canny dad Walter Stratford (Larry Miller, on top form) has banned youngest daughter - tempting tease Bianca (Larisa Oleynik) - from having a boyfriend until her elder sibling - bitter, bitchy Katarina (Julia Stiles) - gets one too, an event about as likely as the Infernal Regions suffering a chilly spell.
And so a questionable plan is hatched: Bianca's would-be beau Cameron James (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) will bribe Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger) to take Kat on at least one date, freeing Bianca for romance too.
There's a problem, though. Even if Kat's hissy, spiky temperament were not geared to repel any and every approach, Patrick is a moody loner with a mysterious, shrouded past - which may or may not have involved burning down his previous school - and has no interest whatsoever in a girl this icy, acid-tongued, but-clearly-quite-attractive-nevertheless.
So Cameron somehow convinces loaded school smarm Joey Donner (Andrew Keegan) to front some cash in the form of a bet, eventually putting up a high enough stake to pique Patrick's interest, and the plan seems set. Except that unknown to Cameron, Bianca harbours desires for Joey, so even if the ruse succeeds, things may not work exactly as he hopes.
More often than not, this sort of film is plagued with a painful mediocrity of the teen telly series order, and early on, warning bells are clanging loud and clear with colourful, high school hallways and clear-skinned, cliche-spouting kids.
But then Larry Miller enters the frame with a distinctly left-of-centre support role which arrests your attention and serves notice that some surprises will be in store. And so it proves.
Gordon-Levitt and Oleynik are made to toe a standard line admittedly, but there's real spark in the performances of Ledger and Stiles, who seem desperate to instil some bite and sideways humour, and are rewarded for their efforts when the script eventually catches up.
Patrick's crooning of Can't Take My Eyes Off You to Kat and an entire sports field of gob-smacked footballers, cheerleaders and spectators is a master-stroke of cringe-worthy potential turned on its head.
And yes, as this suggests, it's cheesy in places, but with a good few laughs (largely grabbed by Miller and no-nonsense English teacher Daryl Mitchell) and the script's spiteful slant, there's an agreeably wicked tang to this uplifting, undemanding multiplex fluff.
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