I’m not much of a film person by nature. I often bring up well known classics that I haven’t seen and I’m surrounded by a chorus of “Oh but it’s so good – you have to watch it.” Recently, I finally decided to give in and watch 10 Things I Hate About You.

As a teenager on the internet, it is safe to say that I was not exactly going into the movie blind. While I had never watched the movie in its entirety, I knew the general plot – Boy wants to date a girl, she can’t date until her “loser” older sister dates, the boy pays another guy to go out with her.

Despite the simple premises, I genuinely enjoyed the plot of the movie. I typically enjoy more predictable plots, with few twists and turns. A predictable movie with good humor that explores a deeper theme is almost always a good one in my book.

10 Things I Hate About You was exactly that. A good, albeit cheesy, romantic comedy, where you didn’t have to think too hard about the plot to keep track of the events. You could just sit down, and let the story, humor, romance, and theme wash all over you. It was a fun movie to watch alone, and certainly would be a fun movie to watch with friends. 

You could even call yourself a scholar for watching it, as it was based off of Shakespear’s The Taming of The Shrew. Although, that may not be accurate. While the plot follows the same general sequence of events, most of the scenes are very different from the play. The location was changed from Padua, Italy to Padua Highschool. The main character Kathrine instead goes by Kat, and her love interest Petruchio is renamed Patrick Verona (his last name being reference to the famous location of Romeo and Juliet, another play of Shakespear’s).

The plot fits an American high school very well, though that may be due to the many changes that are made from the original. Both the play and the movie represent the time that they were written and produced. However, just like many plays written by Shakespear, I would say the theme and story withstand the test of time, and are still very relevant today.

10 Things I Hate About You has clear reflections of the late 1990s, which would be expected from a film released in 1999. Despite this, its style, soundtrack, and message stands up to this day. There might be more rigid cliques, and normalized smoking and alcohol than is seen in current movies, but the movie trulyreminded me of some of my favorite depictions of the current American high school experience. 

Speaking of the soundtrack, it was so good I had to listen to it again, after I had finished the movie. It truly helps to characterize the setting of the movie and the personality of the characters. It places you in the late 90s at high school, and the more obscure songs, that aren’t necessarily as popular as other songs teens listened to at the time, help to portray Kat as weird, unpopular, and different from the norm. 

The acting of the main stars and the directing of Gil Junger certainly helped the movie shine. Julia Stiles played the main character Kat Stratford amazingly, and truly convicted her attitude through her acting. Her on stage relationship with Larisa Oleynik’s Bianca Strafford (Kat’s younger sister) really encapsulates the relationship between an older and younger sister. I could often see myself and my sister in some of their scenes together.

The chemistry both actresses had with their respective costars was also quite remarkable. Heath Ledger (who plays Patrick Verona) and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (playing Cameron James) do an amazing job at portraying the personalities of their characters and allowing the movie to truly feel alive, exciting, and enticing. 

For his first film as a director, Gil Junger’s 10 Things I Hate About You performed amazingly, with the lead actress Julia Stiles receiving two awards, and the movie being nominated for many more. Stiles won the MTV Movie Award for Best Female Actress and the Chicago Film Critics Association Awards for Most Promising Actress, both in the year 2000.

While this review is mostly my opinion, I truly believe that if you enjoy romantic comedies and for some reason haven’t seen it yet, 10 Things I Hate About You is a good watch. Even if you don’t necessarily enjoy rom-coms, or have never seen one, the movie is worth the hour and 37 minutes you would spend watching it.