10 Things I Hate About You

The Taming of the Shrew is tough to update. Granted, the template of a man and woman at odds until they realize they are in love is the plot of almost every screwball comedy ever made, but to stick to the essence of the play--that a woman owes obedience to a man--just doesn't fly anymore.

So when 10 Things I Hate About You was made in 1999, that part was jettisoned, and the bare bones of the plot was kept, along with some names. Here we have Julia Styles as Kat, the antisocial high school girl whose sister, Bianca (Larisa Oleynik) is swarmed over by boys and desperately wants to date. But the obstetrician father (Larry Miller), seeing too many pregnant teens in his practice, forbids dating.

Then he decides, in a sadistic twist, that Bianca can date if Kat does, knowing full well she has no interest in dating. But an admirer of Bianca's, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, conspires to have a rich kid, also an admirer, to pay a lout to woo Kat. That lout turns out to be Heath Ledger as Patrick Verona, who takes the money but ends up falling for the girl.

So, cleverly, the script keeps the plot but does away with the sexism. In fact, it turns it on its head, as Kat is an ardent feminist (she decries an attempt to declare Hemingway as a romantic, as she listens to riot grrl music) who will only have Patrick on her terms.

The film mostly succeeds. Though ostensibly a teen comedy, it ratchets up the intensity so there's more at stake than just who takes who to the prom. In particular, Stiles and Ledger are so good that you can overlook some of the dumb scenes, like when Stiles distracts a teacher by flashing him so Ledger can escape detention.

Also, the film grabs on some aspects of the play that are overlooked or just between the lines, such as the relationship between father and daughters. Baptista clearly favors Bianca in Shakespeare's play, for reasons unknown, while in 10 Things, there is no favoritism, but Miller aches that his daughter really doesn't need him, and wants to go to the opposite coast to college.

Seeing this film again some fifteen years later made me think about the cast. Ledger, of course, became a big star before his premature death, and this was the starting point. He shows off movie star charm seemingly effortlessly, especially in the cheesy scene in which he sings to Kat over the school microphone. Stiles, though, has had a far different career. She made quite a few films around then, many of them teen films but also some very interesting ones, such as The Business of Strangers and Edmond, and very small roles in the Bourne films. But her movie career since then is strictly as a supporting actress, and she's mostly done TV.

As for Oleynik, she was a big teen star on TV, but since 10 Things hasn't done much of anything. Gordon-Levitt has gone on to be one of my favorite actors.