REVIEWS

"10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU"

Lotsa modernized stories coming out, have ya noticed? The trend started recently with "Romeo & Juliet" directed by Baz Luhrmann (is he the same guy who does that funky spoken word song about sunscreen?), then came "Great Expectations," "She's All That" was an update on "Pygmalion," "Cruel Intentions" was an update on the book which when the title is translated into English is "Dangerous Liaisons"... now there's "10 Things I Hate About You," which is based on Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew." I tellya, there's no writer in Hollywood right now who's hotter than William Shakespeare. He's got several other updated versions of his work coming out soon, and strangely enough, almost all of them feature Julia Stiles, who is also in this movie.

Say "10 Things I Hate About You" out loud. Now say "The Taming of the Shrew" out loud. Now say 'em both out loud, one after the other. In a weird kinda way, the two phrases rhyme. Okay, I KNOW that it's a very, very, very loose rhyme, but back when I used to be a huge rap-a-holic, The Geto Boys had a song where "shoulder," "corners," and "on me" all somehow rhymed. Jesus Christ, I am so NOT Roger Ebert.

"10 Things I Hate About You" was cute. It wasn't a brilliant work of art, but it didn't set out to be. It was exactly what I expected. Maybe the only thing I DIDN'T expect was that it was gonna be so predictable (no, I never read "The Taming of the Shrew"... I know "Romeo and Juliet," but I'm quite ignorant on anything else by Shakespeare). Still, it was a very enjoyable movie that had good performances. Heath Ledger (an Australian guy) and Julia Stiles (from that TV mini-series, "The 60s") were very good, as were Larisa Oleynik (the star of the TV series, "The Secret World of Alex Mack") and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (the kid from "3rd Rock from the Sun"). Michael Eckman was really funny as his friend, but he played a role that he always seems to play. Andrew Keegan (he was the apple of Claudia's eye in "Party of Five" last season) was really effective as the shallow, sleazy guy. Still, it was the adults who had the best scenes. Larry Miller (he was the hilarious brown-nosing sales clerk in that expensive shop in "Pretty Woman") was excellent as the father, former rapper Daryl "Chill" Mitchell (who is now a very successful actor, having been in several TV shows and now with regular work in "Veronica's Closet") was perfect as the teacher who refuses to take any shit from his students, and Allison Janney probably has the funniest scenes in the movie as the guidance counselor who isn't very interested in guiding or counseling the students.

This is the feature film debut for director Gil Junger, but he's been everywhere as far as TV directing goes. Most notably, he directed the very funny coming out episode of "Ellen." The script (which was very clever and had great dialogue, by the way) was by Karen McCullah Lutz & Kirsten Smith, and this is the first script they wrote that got made into a feature film. Oh I wish I knew that feeling.

There are tons of Shakespearean references, some of which are very in-your-face, others which are much more obscure. There are quite a few very funny moments in this movie, and I did enjoy it, but it's nothing innovative. For that, see "The Matrix." That being said, this is an entertaining movie with a great cast, and it's hard not to like it... so just enjoy.

Scale of 1-10: 7