Disney / Buena Vista | 1999 | 97 mins. | Rated PG-13
Adapted from William Shakespeare’s play The Taming of the Shrew, 10 Things I Hate About You is most often remembered for being one of Heath Ledger’s earliest film roles. While that’s correct—he made this film between his stint in the short lived series Roar and his star-making turn in The Patriot—10 Things I Hate About You belongs to Joseph Gordon-Levitt who plays Cameron, the new kid at Padua High whose fallen in love at first sight with the campus princess Bianca (Larisa Oleynik), a beautiful maiden who symbolizes all that is good and pure in the universe. But true to the world of Shakespeare, he can never have her.
As it turns out, Bianca’s father (Larry Miller), won’t let her date until her older sister Katarina (Julia Stiles) does, and since she’s known for her less than inviting personality, that prospect seems unlikely. Desperate, Cameron and his buddy Michael (David Krumholtz) hatch a plan: They know that Joey (Andrew Keegan), the school’s rich, brainless stud, is also desperate to “date” Bianca. Joey hires Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger), a rebellious Australian student, to woo Kat, thereby allowing Bianca to date as well. However, it’s not long before Patrick begins to fall in love himself.
Honestly, the story itself isn’t anything that hasn’t been done countless times before. What makes 10 Things I Hate About You rather charming is some solid performances and memorable scenes. The teachers are memorable; the always reliable Allison Janney is a sex-mad counselor, and Darryl “Chill” Mitchell is an English teacher who performs Shakespeare sonnets as rap songs. Stiles and Ledger also work very well together. Their relationship is sweet and tentative. In the film’s “aww” moment, in a bid to win Kat’s heart, Patrick waits until she’s on the athletic field, and serenades her “I love you baby” over the P.A. system, having bribed the school’s marching band to accompany him.
Of course, this is a teen rom-com, so it’s unavoidable that some scenes drag a bit. But this one deserves credit for attempting to insert some inventive moments in an age old plot. Although it’s obvious from the opening scene where the story is going, the enthusiasm of the ensemble cast makes sure that the journey is a lot of fun.
10 Things I Hate About You looks pretty good in high definition. While excessive artificial sharpening undermines the integrity of the image at times, Disney’s 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer boasts strong colors, deep blacks, vibrant contrast and warm, lifelike skintones. It’s worth noting that faces flush on occasion, but it’s still a notable step up from its DVD counterpart. Fine textures have been preserved, edge definition is crisp, and the film’s grainfield is intact. Artifacting, crush, aliasing and other digital anomalies are kept to a minimum, and ringing is the only issue that frequently occurs.
Disney’s DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track is a solid one despite the fact that it’s somewhat limited by the film’s two-dimensional sound design. Clear, intelligible, reasonably well-prioritized dialogue dominates the mix. While the rear speakers offer up decent background chatter, passable acoustics, and a fairly immersive rom-com soundfield, they’re never as aggressive as the activity in the halls and fields of Padua High School suggest they should be. Action in 10 Things I Hate About You never gets more intense than a fender bender, the soundfield is only put to the test during a drunken house party, and classrooms and living rooms comprise the bulk of the film’s interiors.
The disc includes English SDH, English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese subtitles.
Sorry, Blu-fans. There are no Blu-ray exclusive bonus features. Everything here matches the DVD release.
• A newly recorded Audio Commentary with co-writers Karen McCullah Lutz and Kristen Smith discuss the film with actors Andrew Keegan, David Krumholtz, Larisa Oleynik, and Susan May Pratt. The track is breezy and fun, but nothing special.
• 10 Things I Love About 10 Things I Hate About You 10 Years Later (HD, 36 minutes), is a fitting companion, filling in gaps in the commentary with countless interviews and lots of behind-the-scenes footage. Note the “Deleted Scenes” mentioned on the back coverart actually appear in the documentary and can’t be viewed separately.
• Digital Copy
[xrrgroup][xrr label=”Video:” rating=”3.5/5″ group=”s1″ ] [xrr label=”Audio:” rating=”3.5/5″ group=”s1″] [xrr label=”Extras:” rating=”2.0/5″ group=”s1″] [xrr label=”Film Value:” rating=”3.0/5″ group=”s1″] [/xrrgroup]
