Product Description

A cool cast of young stars is just one of the things you'll love about this hilarious comedy hit! On the first day at his new school, Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt -- HALLOWEEN: H2O, TV's "3RD Rock From The Sun") instantly falls for Bianca (Larisa Oleynik -- THE BABY SITTERS CLUB), the gorgeous girl of his dreams. The only problem is that Bianca is forbidden to date ... until her ill-tempered, completely un-dateable older sister Kat (Julia Stiles -- THE BOURNE IDENTITY, SAVE THE LAST DANCE) goes out too! In an attempt to solve his problem, Cameron singles out the only guy who could possibly be a match for Kat: a mysterious bad-boy (Heath Ledger -- A KNIGHT'S TALE, THE PATRIOT) with a nasty reputation of his own! Also featuring a hip soundtrack -- this witty comedy is a wildly entertaining look at exactly how far some guys will go to get a date!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #463 in DVD
• Released on: 1999-10-12
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Widescreen
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 97 minutes

Amazon.com
It's, like, Shakespeare, man! This good-natured and likeable update of The Taming of the Shrew takes the basics of Shakespeare's farce about a surly wench and the man who tries to win her and transfers it to modern-day Padua High School. Kat Stratford (Julia Stiles) is a sullen, forbidding riot grrrl who has a blistering word for everyone; her sunny younger sister Bianca (Larisa Oleynik) is poised for high school stardom. The problem: overprotective and paranoid Papa Stratford (a dryly funny Larry Miller) won't let Bianca date until boy-hating Kat does, which is to say never. When Bianca's pining suitor Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) gets wind of this, he hires the mysterious, brooding Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger) to loosen Kat up. Of course, what starts out as a paying gig turns to true love as Patrick discovers that underneath her brittle exterior, Kat is a regular babe. The script, by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith, is sitcom-funny with peppy one-liners and lots of smart teenspeak; however, its cleverness and imagination doesn't really extend beyond its characters' Renaissance names and occasional snippets of real Shakespearean dialogue. What makes the movie energetic and winning is the formula that helped make She's All That such a big hit: two high-wattage stars who look great and can really act. Ledger is a hunk of promise with a quick grin and charming Aussie accent, and Stiles mines Kat's bitterness and anger to depths usually unknown in teen films; her recitation of her English class sonnet (from which the film takes its title) is funny, heartbreaking, and hopelessly romantic. The imperious Allison Janney (Primary Colors) nearly steals the film as a no-nonsense guidance counselor secretly writing a trashy romance novel. --Mark Englehart

From The New Yorker
Bianca (Larisa Oleynik) is an appealing Padua High sophomore, but her worrywart father (Larry Miller) won't let her date until her very smart and very difficult older sister, Kat (Julia Stiles), softens up and agrees to go out with somebody. As long as the writers, Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith, keep the "Taming of the Shrew" parallels going, "10 Things" bobs along brightly. The film was shot in Tacoma, Washington, which is here transformed into a sunny Tuscan paradise, where the teachers-comically played by Allison Janney and Daryl (Chill) Mitchell-are as witty and worldly as the students. First-time feature director Gil Junger gets a lot of laughs in the long setup, but the story eventually reverts to an almost typical high-school romance. Not quite "Clueless." -Ken Marks
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

One, if not my favorite, of my favorite movives.
I really like this movie, because it's realistic and funny and sweet and just gives you butterflies. Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger were great in this film. My favorite scene was the paintball one, it was so cute and romantic. I would recommend this movie to anyone and everyone.

RIP Heath!

Heath's cutes film ever!:)
I'm a huge fan of Heath Ledger and he is a very talented actor, this is one of my favorite movies of his. It is Shakespere but with a modern twist. This is a great Teen Comedy! I adored this movie when it first came out in the theater and I love it even nopw that it is on dvd! funny movie it cracks me up ever time I see it:). I highly reccomend it.:)

I can find 1million things to love about this movie
Ten Things I Hate About You is one of a dozen modernized Hollywood adaptations of Shakespeare's the Taming of the Shrew. There are a million good things I can say about this movie. It's one of the best reinterpretations of the classic story I've seen.

Ten Things I Hate About You retells Shakespeare's classic story in a suburban high school this time. The shrew this time is a high school feminist. A young player wants to date her sister a bubbly princess, but the overprotective father won't let the daughters date. His rule is unless the older feminist sister dates, she can't. So the young man recruits the help of a bad boy to help him get his girl. What could have been a predictable story turns magical over the next hour. Romance, laughs, drama this movie has it all and then some.

Ten Things I Hate About You works because of the strong writing, solid direction and great performances from the cast. This modernized version captures the heart and soul of Shakespeare's material and makes it relatable to today. The characters in this script are so well developed and the actors make them into three-dimensional people you want to root for.

Julia Stiles gives the best performance of her career here. She carries the movie from opening act to final scene. The late Heath Ledger is equally strong here; he has great chemistry with Stiles and shows great acting range even in this early role. I loved the scenes on the football field! Gabrielle Union is solid in a supporting role. I wish she had this kind of writing and direction in Deliver Us From Eva. Deliver Us From Eva retells the exact same story but she's ten times better in this movie than in that one. The rest of the cast is just as great. Everyone should give themselves a round of applause. This is a top notch teen movie I would be proud to have in my DVD collection.

Ten Things I Hate About You is a Shawn James essential Teen Movie. Pick this one up with The Last American Virgin, The Breakfast Club and Pretty In Pink.