10 Things I Hate About You

10 Things I Hate About You
Promotional poster
Directed by	Gil Junger
Produced by	Andrew Lazar
Written by	Karen McCullah Lutz Kirsten Smith
Starring	Julia Stiles Heath Ledger Joseph Gordon-Levitt Larisa Oleynik David Krumholtz Andrew Keegan Larry Miller
Music by	Richard Gibbs
Cinematography	Mark Irwin
Editing by	O. Nicholas Brown
Distributed by	Touchstone Pictures
Release date(s)	March 31, 1999
Running time	97 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$16 million
Gross revenue	$53,478,166

10 Things I Hate About You is a 1999 American romantic comedy film. It is directed by Gil Junger and stars Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Larisa Oleynik, David Krumholtz, and Larry Miller. A loose adaptation of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew set in a modern Seattle, Washington, American high school, the screenplay was written by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith.

The film's title is a reference to a poem written by the film's female lead to describe her bittersweet romance with the male lead. The film was released March 31, 1999, and it was a breakout success for stars Stiles and Ledger.^[1][2][3] The film marks the directing debut of Junger.

Plot

Cameron James, a new student at Padua (Stadium High School in Tacoma, Washington), is given a tour of the school by Michael Eckman, who is an AV geek. During the tour, Cameron spots the beautiful and popular Bianca Stratford and is immediately smitten with her. Michael warns that Bianca is shallow, conceited, and worst of all, not allowed to date. Michael does, however, inform Cameron that Bianca is looking for a French tutor.

At the Stratford residence, Bianca’s outcast older sister Kat is in conflict with their protective father, who wants Kat to attend college nearby, despite her acceptance to Sarah Lawrence College. Bianca is also fighting with her father regarding his strict no-dating rule. However, Kat's aversion to dating prompts the father to come up with a new rule: Bianca can only date if Kat is also dating.

Cameron starts tutoring Bianca, and she informs him of her father’s rule after Cameron makes many failed attempts to ask her out. This news motivates Cameron and Michael to set out to find a boy who is willing to date Kat.

Cameron suggests Patrick Verona, an outcast who is just as ill-tempered as Kat. Cameron tries asking Patrick for his assistance, but Patrick scares him off. Michael then poses the idea to Joey, also attempting to date Bianca, to pay Patrick to take Kat out. Patrick agrees, but Kat, however, wants nothing to do with Patrick. He eventually wins her over and the two become a couple, while Kat remains unaware of the money Patrick received to originally date her. Meanwhile, Cameron continues to pursue Bianca who remains interested in Joey, unaware of his intentions to use her for sex.

Bianca tries to convince her father to let her go to the prom with Joey, but he refuses because Kat isn’t going. When Bianca confronts Kat, it is revealed that Kat previously dated Joey and he had used her for sex. She tells Bianca that her feelings of isolation from her peers ultimately stemmed from the incident with Joey.

Bianca and Kat end up going to the prom with Cameron and Patrick, respectively. Joey is furious to learn that Bianca has gone to the prom with Cameron, and confronts Patrick about the "arrangement" in front of Kat. Kat blows up at Patrick and leaves. Joey subsequently confronts Cameron about manipulating the 'deal' for himself, but after he punches Cameron, Bianca hits Joey three times, leaving him curled up in pain on the floor.

The next morning, the sisters make up and Kat's father allows her to go to Sarah Lawrence. At school, Kat reads a poem which she wrote for English class, titled "10 Things I Hate About You" (although it contains 14 things she hates about Patrick). While reading the poem, she reveals (in front of the entire class) how hurt she was by what Patrick did and how much she really cares about him. Patrick is shown to be touched by her revelation. In the parking lot, Kat finds a guitar that Patrick bought her with the money Joey paid him, and he admits that he messed up their deal by falling for her. Kat forgives Patrick and the two kiss and make up.

Cast

• Heath Ledger as Patrick "Pat" Verona - The male protagonist of the story, described by a The New York Times reviewer as a "rough-edged outsider" and "teenage rebel" who hangs out at a pool hall, smokes cigarettes and drinks. He speaks in a partly Australian dialect, often lapsing into American. When Kat inquires if "the accent" is real, he explains to her that he lived in Australia with his mother until he was ten. He is hired by Joey, Cameron, and Michael to take out Kat so that Bianca can be permitted to date, hence his job is to "tame the shrew." At first, he pursues her for the money but later he falls for her, showing a softer side and transforming into a more sensitive person.
• Julia Stiles as Katarina "Kat" Stratford - The female protagonist and the "shrew" in the film. Kat is a proud, unsociable, nonconforming feminist who listens to riot grrrl music and reads books like The Bell Jar. She is against dating and often "sneers at the idiocy of teenage social life,". She turned bitter after a relationship with Joey, a boy whom Bianca now likes. The New York Times called this "a breath of fresh air in the stifling materialistic atmosphere of today's Hollywood teenage movies." She was accepted into Sarah Lawrence College.
• Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Cameron "Cam" James - Like Patrick, they both pursue a Stratford sister. But while Patrick is seen as intimidating and manly, Cameron is seen as sweet and delicate. He is a new kid, has a father in the U.S. army, and befriends Michael and Patrick.
• Larisa Oleynik as Bianca Stratford - Kat's younger sister and foil, seen as a "Valley girl" type, wears designer clothes, and is popular in school. She gets caught in a love triangle between Cameron and Joey before realizing Cameron is the man for her.
• David Krumholtz as Michael "Mike" Eckman - An AV geek who is delegated the task of showing Cameron around, which he uses as an opportunity to seek revenge on the group of aspiring MBA's which he led until he was kicked out for getting Izods from outlet stores.
• Andrew Keegan as Joey "Joe" Donner - A male model, who formerlly bedded Kat and makes a bet that he can do the same with Bianca and is the male antagonist. Instead of warning Bianca, Kat chooses not to date so that Bianca will not be able to date him. He is deceived by the guys that by paying Patrick to date Kat he will be permitted to date Bianca when really it is Cameron who would be dating her.
• Larry Miller as Dr. Walter Stratford - An OB/GYN and single father. He sets forth the rule that Bianca may not date until Kat does and consistently forbids Bianca to so much as attend functions where boys may be if her sister does not accompany her. He is an extremely over-protective father, believing that his daughters will have sex, do drugs and drink as soon as they aren't under his supervision.
• Susan May Pratt as Mandella - A Shakespeare aficionado whom Michael, dressed as William Shakespeare, takes to the prom. She is Kat's best friend.
• Gabrielle Union as Chastity "Chas" Church - Bianca's best friend, who goes out with Joey after Bianca dumps him for Cameron at Bogey's crashed party.
• Daryl Mitchell as Mr. Morgan - The African-American English literature teacher. He's an imposing teacher who, for the most part, seems to keep his classroom under control.
• Allison Janney as Ms. Perky: The school's guidance counselor, and a writer of erotic literature. She makes many sexual comments and innuendos throughout the film.
• David Leisure as Mr. Chapin - The detention teacher and the girls' soccer coach.
• Greg Jackson as Scurvy - One of Patrick's friends.
• Kyle Cease as Bogey Lowenstien - A golf enthusiast (hence his nickname, Bogey) and member of a clique of aspiring MBA's, the new leader after Michael is ejected.
• Kay Hanley and Michael Eisenstein, members of Letters to Cleo
• Monique Powell and Brian Mashburn, members of Save Ferris

Production

Exterior shots of principal photography were filmed in Tacoma and Seattle, Washington. The high school's exterior was shot at Tacoma's Stadium High School. Bianca and Kat's home in the film is in North Tacoma. A brief scene takes place at the Fremont Troll in Seattle, Washington. Katarina and Patrick's date takes place at Gas Works Park in Seattle, Washington. The biker bar that Patrick is shown going into is the Buckaroo Tavern in Fremont, Seattle. The exterior shot was taken at Alki Beach.^[4] The Padua High School Prom was filmed at Seattle's Century Ballroom as well as at the restored Paramount Theatre. The prom sequence was shot over three 90+°F days in Seattle.^[5] The store in which Kat picks out her dream guitar was a Ted Brown Music store in Tacoma, but has since been made into part of the Tacoma School of the Arts.

Costume designer Kim Tillman designed original dresses for Larisa Oleynik and Julia Stiles as well as the period outfits for Susan May Pratt and David Krumholtz. Gabrielle Union's snakeskin prom dress is a Betsey Johnson design. Heath Ledger and Joseph Gordon-Levitt's vintage tuxes came from Isadora's in Seattle.^[5]

The primary tagline is an allusion to a poem written by Elizabeth Barrett Browning from her Sonnets from the Portuguese collection. ("How do I loathe thee? Let me count the ways.") Another tagline is a spoof from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet ("Romeo, Oh Romeo, Get Out Of My Face.") and another is a line from The Taming of the Shrew that is spoken in the film by Cameron ("I burn, I pine, I perish!"). The original script was finalized on November 12, 1997.^[6]

Release and reception

Box office

In its opening weekend, the film grossed $8,330,681 in 2,271 theaters in the United States and Canada, averaging $3,668 per venue, and ranking number two at the box office (lagging far behind The Matrix). It grossed a total of $38,178,166 in the United States and Canada and $15,300,000 in other territories, about $53,500,000 worldwide. The film had an estimated budget of $16 million and is considered a moderate financial and critical success. On October 12, 1999, the Region 1 DVD was released. In the box office, the film is number ten in teen romance, 18th in high school comedies, and ranked 96th in romantic comedies.^[7]

Critics

The film received generally mixed feedback from critics, with a 57% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 56 reviews.^[8] Geoff Andrew from Time Out praised the film's leads, stating "Stiles grows into her character, and Ledger is effortlessly charming".^[9] Roger Ebert gave the film two and a half stars out of four, claiming "I liked the movie's spirit, the actors and some of the scenes. The music, much of it by the band Letters to Cleo, is subtle and inventive while still cheerful".^[10] Brad Laidman from Film Threat said the film was "Pure of heart and perfectly executed".^[11] Ron Wells, another critic from Film Threat expressed "Of all the teen films released this year, this one is, by far, the best".^[12]

Awards and nominations

In the year the film was released, the lead actors Gordon-Levitt, Stiles, and Oleynik each received Young Star Award nominations for Best Actor/Actress in a Comedy Film. The movie was nominated for five Teen Choice Awards: Film Breakout Performance (Stiles), Film Choice Comedy, Film Funniest Scene (featuring Krumholtz), Film Sexiest Love Scene (featuring Stiles and Ledger), and Soundtrack of the Year. More notably, the film's casting directors Marcia Ross and Donna Morong won "Best Casting for Feature Film, Comedy" at the Casting Society of America in 1999. In 2000, Stiles won the CFCA Award for "Most Promising Actress" for her role as Kat Stratford (tied with Émilie Dequenne in Rosetta) and an MTV Movie Award for Breakthrough Female Performance. The same year, Ledger was nominated for Best Musical Performance for the song "Can't Take My Eyes Off You."

Television series

On October 8, 2008, ABC Family greenlit the pilot episode of a new half-hour, single-camera comedy series based on 10 Things I Hate About You. Larry Miller is the only actor from the film to reprise his role in the television series. The director of the film, Gil Junger, also directed the pilot of the television series, written and produced by Carter Covington.^[13] The show premiered on July 7, 2009.^[14]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was released on April 6, 1999 by Hollywood Records. The soundtrack includes music from artists including Sister Hazel, Letters to Cleo, Save Ferris, George Clinton, and Semisonic.

See also

• List of American films of 1999

References

External links

• 10 Things I Hate About You at the Internet Movie Database
• 10 Things I Hate About You - Heath Ledger at Work at Youtube
• 10 Things I Hate About You at Box Office Mojo
• 10 Things I Hate About You at the TCM Movie Database
• 10 Things I Hate About You at Rotten Tomatoes
• Filming Locations MoviePlaces.tv
• Yahoo! Movies: 10 Things I Hate About You
• 10 Things I Hate About You - Transcript
• Kat's 'Hate' Poem from AmericanRhetoric.com