10 Things I Hate About You

MPAA Rated – PG-13
It’s 1:37 Long
A Review by:
The Dude on the Right

10 Things I Hate About You
Movie Stats & Links
Starring: Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles
MPAA Rated: PG-13
Released By: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
Kiddie Movie: Nah, it’s really for the older teen crowd.
Date Movie: Okay, even though I like the movie, it’s probably more for the teen girls.
Gratuitous Sex: Actually some pretty frank talk.
Gratuitous Violence: Some Fighting.
Action: Nah.
Laughs: Lots throughout, in the teen genre kind of way.
Memorable Scene: I would have to say the well-timed punch.
Memorable Quote: Kat to Bianca: “I warned him that if he told anyone, the cheerleading squad would find out how tiny his dick is.”
Directed By: Gil Junger
Blu-Ray Cool Things: The extras are kind of lame, but get it for the Blu-ray because it does look better.

“10 Things I Hate About You” is one of those movies that I can somehow watch over and over again, and for whatever reason, even though I’m ten years older than when it was originally released, I still enjoy it.

The story, hey, it’s simple, you know, based on that Shakespeare dude and his story “The Taming of the Shrew.” In this one we’ve got Julia Stiles as Kat. She’s the rebellious teen, weary of the boys, and with a younger sister, Bianca (Larisa Oleynik), she who wants to be able to date boys, and be kind of cool, and be unrebellious. But here comes Patrick (Heath Ledger). He’s the transfer student, kind of mysterious, and with a multitude of twists and turns, Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) wants to date Bianca but can’t because Bianca isn’t allowed to date because her sister, Kat, doesn’t date, so it’s time for Patrick to date Kat, thus allowing Bianca to date, thus allowing Cameron to find happiness with Bianca.

Okay, I made that a little more complicated than it should be, but pretty much “10 Things I Hate About You” is about kids in high school, and I think, as the years go on, the story pretty much plays out the same.

So what sets this movie apart from other teen movies? Well, for one, look at the list of people starring in this movie, from the great Heath Ledger in the movie that really launched his career, to Julia Stiles who has become one of the premier female actresses, to Alison Janney, a staple of experienced actress. But what really makes the movie stand out is that the writing was smart, witty, and adult enough for teens to get without being condescending.

In any case, I still liked “10 Things…” after watching it again over the years, and again for this review for that matter, and after all of these years I still think the movie holds up, so, with that, it’s a solid 4 stars out of 5.

Now, the reason for this review is because the movie has made it to the 10 year mark, and they put it on Blu-ray and “Anniversary Edition” DVD. The problem is that for this special edition, there isn’t that much special about it. I mean, there is a little bit of a retrospective and looking back featurette, some deleted scenes, and the standard commentary track, but really, this DVD is just for having the movie for having the movie sake, and sure, everything looks better on Blu-ray.