I love you, baby!…. well, I really like you anyway.
If you’re not familiar with 10 Things I Hate About You you shouldn’t worry; the story has been done before. Back when teen movies were making a reappearance in the late 90s, 10 Things I Hate About You emerged with some of the best, which included: Can’t Hardly Wait, She’s All That and pretty much anything that featured Freddy Prinze in it.
This teen comedy was a bit more sassier as it follows two sisters who lead very opposite lives. Kat (Julia Stiles) is a know-it-all, alternative chick who doesn’t take crap off anyone. She prefers not to date, but she enjoys belittling anyone and everyone. Her sister Bianca (Larisa Oleynik) is the other side to that coin. Bianca wants to date and wants to be social, which includes going out with the most popular guy in the school, but there she can’t date if Kat doesn’t date; it’s their father’s rule. On top of all this, a new boy in school named Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) has fallen head over hills with Bianca and will do anything, including setting Kat up with bad boy Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger) even if he hast to pay Patrick (which he does). If Patrick dates Kat then Bianca can date Cameron, which is Cameron’s equation. You know how teen comedies are; something always goes haywire.
While this certainly wasn’t the cream of the crop for teen comedies in the 90s, it did introduce the world to a young, budding Heath Ledger. His performance as the tough kid, who no one spoke to, helped to elevate the value of the story. If you take him out of the equation you just have one semi-strong character against a slew of weak-minded individuals. Don’t get me wrong, Julia Stiles certainly has enough there to lead the way, but her dry, mean attitude doesn’t make her character likable one bit. Ledger is the balance needed to make the story work. He is the pivotal key to it all and thankfully he doesn’t disappoint. As for Larisa Oleynik’s performance, it was something comparable to a 90s sitcom role. She plays Bianca perfectly, but the character has no depth whatsoever. She has no real personality, unlike Kat, and when she reappears in 3rd Rock from the Sun with Joseph Gordon-Levitt you truly understand that she has no range. For all intents and purposes, Bianca is a supporting character that is a device for all the other characters to jump through and progress with.
Outside of the characters and acting, the story itself was typical. You could guess what the low-point would be in the movie. Having that roller-coaster dip was predictable, but it was still enjoyable. Watching 10 Things I Hate About You was like watching a predictable John Hughes film from the 80s. That being said, the notion of watching something that reminded me of a John Hughes film from the 80s isn’t all-bad. The story, while predictable, was cute and amusing. The characters, outside of Bianca, really defined themselves early on and were fun to watch meshed together onscreen. There was a lot to like about this movie, even though it had been done before. Having liked this a decade ago, I found myself still smiling when I walked away from it this time around.
Pretty, but could have been much prettier
While the movie was entertaining, I found that the transfer from film to blu-ray lacked a bit. While certainly above the standards of a DVD, there were still artifacts and graininess in the picture that screamed, “This certainly could have been done better!” Granted, this isn’t Titanic, but still if you’re going to make the effort to transfer something to HD you should probably go through it until the end. It seemed a bit rushed and in turn the colors come through in a dull manner. Visuals aside, I loved the audio remastering that was done for this movie. Not only does it have a strong 90s music soundtrack, but it comes through pretty darn nicely.
As for the features, here’s what you’re looking at:
– 10 Things I Love About 10 Things I Hate About You
– Deleted Scenes
– Writers and Cast Audio Commentary
For a 10th Anniversary Edition it sure needed some more features. I enjoyed the featurette with old and new footage, but really thought that having mostly new footage would have been better. As the Vice President of Blu-ray for Sony Pictures, Rich Marty, told me last year at CES, it’s incredibly difficult to get actors together to make new features for blu-ray; mostly due to scheduling. I understand that and appreciate what was put together, but on that same token the features are what sells the product, so having more new footage means a lot. Anyway, the deleted scenes were nice and the commentary was more than enjoyable.
