The late 90s was a real golden era for team comedy and drama movies and I would put 10 Things I Hate About You close to the top of that list. This is just such a well-made and charming movie. It will make you laugh, make you sad and make you actually care about the characters, which is something many modern teen-centric movies struggle to do.
How to Download 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
You can stream it or you can download the film from a digital platform such as Disney+ or iTunes. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice.
The Movie Review
I guess I am legally required to tell you that the idea behind 10 Things I Hate About You is that it is a modern retelling of the Shakespeare comedy, The Taming of the Shrew. Back in 1999 when I took my high school sweetheart to see this, I did not know that, but looking back now I do think it is pretty cool.
As you will have figured out the setting of the movie is your typical high school. Sisters Kat (Julia Stiles) and Bianca (Larisa Oleynik) live with their overprotective father Walter, played by Larry Miller. These two sisters could not be any more different and they both live very different lives in high school.
Bianca in many ways is your typical high school hot girl, she is pretty self-absorbed and cares about what people think. Kat on the other hand is not super friendly and is just buying her time until she graduates and can move away to college. Their dad tries his best, but he has a no dating rule in place and he hilariously makes them wear a pregnancy vest so they can see what can happen if they date!
A new kid moves to school, Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and he takes an instant liking to Bianca and wants to go out with her. If Cameron wants to take Bianca out on a date, he has to find a date for Kat as well. Walter has stated that if Bianca wants to date, she can only date if Kat is also dating. He knows the chances of Kat wanting to date are slim so he sees this as a good way to stop Bianca from doing it too.
Cameron has the great idea to get the school bad boy, Patrick (Heath Ledger) to try and take Kat out on a date. Patrick wants nothing to do with Cameron’s plan, but when Cameron offers to pay him to try and date Kat, he agrees. There is also a bit of a love triangle for Cameron and Bianca as well as Bianca has a thing for the rich and pretty boy at school, Joey who also has a history with Kat!
Look, you can see where the story here is going to go pretty much within the first 30 minutes. However, 10 Things About You is so well written and so well acted, that you get completely absorbed into this world and what these kids are dealing with. I was 17 when I watched this back in 1999 and watching it again recently did make a bunch of high-school memories come flooding back.
We also have to talk about the cast here. 10 Things I Hate About You really put Julia Stiles, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Heath Ledger on more people’s radars. While this was not the first role for any of these actors, you could argue that their careers may have not gone the way they did had they not been in this movie.
I think that this movie holds up really well. Yes, this is a movie that is aimed at teenagers, but it is a very well-made one, easily one of the best ever actually. I think that this is the 90s version of stuff like The Breakfast Club or St Elmo’s Fire. I think if you are way past your teenage years and you did not watch this back in the day, you may not get quite as much out of it, but you will still find it fun.
