One of the best modern rock soundtracks of the spring 1999 season is filled with great tracks by hip new artists, and some unexpected covers. The story of two sisters trying to get a date for the high school prom, 10 Things I Hate About You is an updated version of Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew. The sisters' father is way too overprotective and won't let the younger sibling date unless the eldest gets a date first.
Featuring teen stars such as Larisa Oleynik, Julia Stiles, Andrew Keegan, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the movie was pretty good and was considered a box office success. Letters to Cleo is featured in the movie and on this soundtrack collection as one of the character's favorite bands. They do a great job covering Cheap Trick's 1979 hit "I Want You to Want Me" and Nick Lowe's "Cruel to Be Kind," keying off of the original artist's style and throwing in a little bit of their own. A '70s funk-lovin' lead character, stopped at a red light, wins a car-stereo volume duel with a carload of '90s Valley girls blasting Barenaked Ladies' "One Week" in the next lane. The album closes with the instrumental theme "One More Thing," composed by Richard Gibbs in a pop-classical style; it does a nice job working the same groove as the rest of the soundtrack. 97 minutesLanguageEnglishBudget$30 millionBox office$60.4 million10 Things I Hate About You is a 1999 American romantic comedy film directed by Gil Junger and starring Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Larisa Oleynik.
The screenplay, written by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith, is a modernization of William Shakespeare's late-16th-century comedy The Taming of the Shrew, retold in a late-1990s American high school setting. In the story, new student Cameron (Gordon-Levitt) is smitten with Bianca and, in order to get around her father's strict rules on dating, attempts to get bad boy Patrick to date Bianca's ill-tempered sister, Kat . The film is titled after a poem written by Kat about her bittersweet romance with Patrick. Much of the filming took place in the Seattle metropolitan area, with many scenes shot at Stadium High School in Tacoma. In the zeitgeist of 90s cinema, few films have shaped pop culture quite like 10 Things I Hate About You. Julia Stiles' award-winning performance as Kat Stratford, the ultimate angsty teen, is now viewed as one of the 90s' best movie moments.
In fact, in the eyes of Cher, Kat and her Shakespeare-worshipping friend Mandella were probably "fashion victims." But at least the soundtrack to 10 Things I Hate About You stacked up. It's impossible to forget Kat getting drunk at Bogey Lowenstein's party and dancing on the table to Biggie's "Hypnotize," or Letters to Cleo playing "I Want You To Want Me" on the roof of the school during the final credits. The casting department knocked this one out of the park, hiring the right YM-cover ready actor for each role, from Larisa Oleynik (Alex Mack forever!) as the popular Bianca to Joseph Gordon-Levitt as semi-dork Cameron. Julia Stiles gave Kat her tough edge, while '90s heartthrob/villain Andrew Keegan was perfectly awful as teen model Joey. (Of course, Heath Ledger was the brightest star of all, but we'll get to him later.) The adults, including Allison Janney as a guidance counselor writing smut during the school day and Larry Miller, Bianca and Kat's extremely overprotective OB/GYN dad, were also fantastic in their roles.
Even now, watching bad boy Patrick's hyper-articulate courtship of the tempestuous shrew Kat sets our hearts aflutter; seeing Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) burn, pine, perish as he longs for Bianca takes us right back to the ache of first love. But while Gil Junger's 1999 teen movie is now a timeless classic of the high school genre, the Taming of the Shrew-inspired rom-com still bears the marks of the decade in which it was made (among them the very fact of its Shakespeare-to-high-school transposition). He'd appeared in television shows and movies in his native Australia, but most Americans were introduced to Heath Ledger in 10 Things I Hate About You. No one else could have played this role as Ledger did, exuding a casual charisma. He had a wide smile that lit up his entire face, and gave bad boy Patrick a heart.
Of course, his career exploded after 10 Things, as it should have — he was an incredible actor. 10 Things I Hate About You was his stepping stone to worldwide fame, and for that, this movie is aces. Kat's sonnet that was actually just a poem, but whatever. There are some contenders for the film's second best scene — the out-of-control party at Bogey Lowenstein's house, the prom where Bianca decks Joey — but without Kat reading her poem about Patrick in front of their English class, our movie wouldn't have a title.
The assignment was to write a sonnet but Kat actually wrote a regular old poem . The film is remembered for more than serving as a breeding ground for a new generation of stars. Based loosely on Shakespeare's play The Taming of the Shrew, the movie told the story of two sisters in Seattle, Kat and Bianca , whose overbearing doctor father forbade them from dating in the fear that they'd come home knocked up. With her best friend Chastity , Bianca is the school's queen bee and the locus of attention for the guys, and she desperately wants to date; both greasy-haired hot rod Joey Donner and sweet new guy Cameron James (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) want to be the lucky guy. Geoff Andrew from Time Out praised the film's leads, stating, "Stiles grows into her character, and Ledger is effortlessly charming". Brad Laidman from Film Threat said the film was "pure of heart and perfectly executed".
There are many reasons that "10 Things" enjoys such a robust afterlife. One is that it's a coming-of-age movie in which not only the characters but also the actors playing them seem to be coming of age before our eyes. Another is that many high school and college professors use the film as a tool to better understand the Bard.
Some say the movie eliminates the misogyny of the play. 10 Things I Hate About You is a movie where everything — cast, soundtrack, setting, and script — all just works. A loose adaptation of William Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew, 10 Things focuses on the Stratford sisters, Bianca and Kat. Bianca can't date until her older sister does, but Kat is too busy being annoyed by everyone and trying to smash the patriarchy to bother with men. Knowing this, Bianca's would-be suitors Joey and Cameron enlist the brooding Patrick to date Kat so they can court Bianca. Teen drama — with a healthy dose of comedy, sisterly bonding, and life lessons — ensues.
Now, as chance would have it… it's 21 years to the day since the release of the iconic film 10 Things I Hate About You. A classic of the teen rom com genre, it's not always immediately obvious that it was inspired by Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. KRUMHOLTZ Toward the end of his life I reunited with him, at a time when we were both quite vulnerable and trying to recover from some stuff that was haunting us. I had an opportunity to tell Heath how much I loved him and to sort of try to help Heath. He had become so famous, and his life had become so crazy, that in the moment when I could've said something, I didn't, even though I thought it.
To me, he was flesh and bone, soulful, sweet, and I know for a fact he was in recovery prior to his death. "We knew we wanted to write a teen movie and whenCluelesscame out, we thought Amy Heckerling was a genius for contemporizing a classic [Jane Austen's Emma], so we decided to try that as well," McCullah told The Script Lab in 2015. "We choseTaming of the Shrewand figured out which story lines we wanted to keep and update and how we'd go about it and then outlined all the characters and the story while we sat on a beach in Mexico."
In fact, Kay Hanley, the lead singer of Letters to Cleo, makes a cameo appearance in the club scene and at the end of the film during the high school prom. Hanley performs "Cruel to be Kind" with a ska band, which in the movie we are led to believe is arranged by Patrick especially for Kat, since Letters to Cleo is her favorite band. With her squeaky-clean image and bubbly persona, Oleynik was the perfect fit to play the high school sweetheart JGL's character chased after. But Australian man Heath Ledger somehow managed to completely assume the role of American teen dreamboat. Ledger is the embodiment of charm here, in ways that feel hard-won and not born of privilege or ulterior motives. That "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" scene is still one of my favorites in history because of how it locks in amber the raw, rare talent that Ledger had — to be as silly as he was suave, as moving as he was able to move.
It's a gorgeously funny, vulnerable performance that is the stuff of lifelong crushes. And that never feels forced, or wrong, or frustrating; instead, I wish I could point to more teen movies of the era that had such an easy pair for us to root for. In October 2008, ABC Family ordered a pilot episode of 10 Things I Hate About You, a half-hour, single-camera comedy series based on the feature film of the same name. Larry Miller is the only actor from the film to reprise his role in the television series. The director of the film, Gil Junger, directed many of the episodes including the pilot while the film's music composer, Richard Gibbs, also returned to do the show's music.
The series was adapted and produced by Carter Covington. The show premiered on July 7, 2009, and ended on May 24, 2010, lasting only 20 episodes. The band Letters to Cleo appears as the band performing at Club Skunk, playing their songs "Come On" and "Co-Pilot", and playing a cover version of Cheap Trick's "I Want You to Want Me" on the school's rooftop during the closing credits.
Hanley and Eisenstein also appear in the prom scene, performing a cover of Nick Lowe's "Cruel to Be Kind" with Save Ferris. Of all the arguably timeless moments that have been captured in film, the scene where Heath Ledger's character crashes a soccer practice with a song and dance number in 10 Things I Hate About You shoots straight to the top of the list. And that makes him so redeemable from the offset, that you think he knows this is wrong and he shouldn't continue. But there's something there that we can like and we're allowed to like in the way that we can't like Petruchio in the play. STILES I remember Heath, when they turned around to do his reaction shot, he said something like, "I don't need to do anything because this isn't about me." A lot of times you get one actor crying in a scene and the other actor feels like they have to cry, and he knew to be sort of restrained. STILES I would never have the guts to do that now.
I mean I love dancing, but sort of provocatively on the table? I also have heard that that is what got me the part in "Save the Last Dance." The director said to me that he had seen that scene, then realized that I could do hip-hop, not just ballet. JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT If I'm really honest, I didn't want to do a high school romantic comedy. I'm very lucky that five years later, I got to do that. The truth is, I was a naïve or stuck-up 17-year-old.
KIRSTEN SMITH There was such a big teen movie explosion at the time. We were young writers who had never sold a script before, and it was very unusual you would get your first script made, let alone greenlit six months after it was optioned. We considered a gender-reversal, making the male lead the shrew before we concluded that all high school guys are shrews. We wrote Kat as the kind of character we wanted to see, an indie rock riot grrl. The film's rookie screenwriters—one in Los Angeles, the other in Denver—collaborated via snail mail on a feminist refresh of a Shakespeare play considered problematic for its misogyny. "We're all arranged on top of this postage-stamp-sized roof with chicken wire the only thing protecting us from toppling to our deaths into the Puget Sound," Hanley, who went on to provide Rachael Leigh Cook's singing voice inJosie and the Pussycats, told the New York Times.
They split up in 2000, but later reunited for a reunion tour and the EPBack to Nebraska in 2016. "I would never have the guts to do that now," Stiles said. "If I'm really honest, I didn't want to do a high school romantic comedy," Gordon-Levitt admitted to the Times. "I wanted to do Sundance movies. I'm very lucky that five years later, I got to do that. The truth is, I was a naïve or stuck-up 17-year-old." "I was over 10 years older than my younger cast members, some of whom were still in high school," Union told the Times.
"So, it was kind of like, how close is this to my high school years? Do I look crazy playing a 15-year-old? Don't mention Earth Wind & Fire or give away your age." It was filled with classic 1990s hits, and throughout the film, the band Letters to Cleowas featured live in several scenes, including at the concert Kat attends and at the school prom. With his handsome looks, and lothario swagger, Keegan was an instant match for Donner's character, making him the bad boy we all kind of loved despite his very obvious shortcomings. But they're also helped out tremendously by the power of a great ensemble cast. Every line Allison Janney utters as the oversexed, over-her-job guidance counselor is pure gold, and we've already discussed Daryl Mitchell's exasperated English teacher. Larisa Oleynik and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are adorably over-earnest as the B romance in a sea of teen actors all playing their parts to the hilt.
(Shoutout to Joey's model poses.) And even with all that, the line that gets me every time is David Leisure as Mr. Chapin stealing detention Cheetos for himself with a simple, "This too." His line delivery here is perfection. Not only that, but I think that, rhythm-wise, this one's hard to beat. Sometimes it's fast-paced; sometimes it's slow and reflective; sometimes it's outright sappy. But it hits every beat in a way that feels perfectly tuned for a teen romantic comedy.
But it lands its jokes and repartee, as well as its more tender moments, in ways that feel a tad reminiscent of the Bard. In the opening scene, Kat pulls up next to a group of preppy high school girls at an intersection blasting Joan Jett's "Bad Reputation" on her car stereo. There are few songs in the history of rock music quite like it, and the opening line "I don't give a damn 'bout my reputation" perfectly sums up Kat's entire persona. We're gonna switch it with Surf Bort's "High Anxiety," because lead singer Dani Miller, "the puking punk princess," is the only person with a snarl that can rival Joan Jett's. No theatre ever wants to close its doors to audiences.
A play isn't a production without our audience. But in extraordinary times come extraordinary measures. This isn't the first time a Globe theatre has closed its doors under similar circumstances – Shakespeare himself was no stranger to such measures – but we hope it's the last. KAY HANLEY We're all arranged on top of this postage-stamp-sized roof with chicken wire the only thing protecting us from toppling to our deaths into the Puget Sound. The music starts playing we start pretending we're in a music video. We hear the whir of a chopper right above us, and then it dive-bombs us.
We did two takes, and it was pretty much assumed that this shot wasn't going to work, and Gil would never work in Hollywood again because he had just blown through half a million dollars doing this shot he was forbidden to do. GABRIELLE UNION (Chastity, Bianca's pal) I was over 10 years older than my younger cast members, some of whom were still in high school. So, it was kind of like, how close is this to my high school years? Don't mention Earth Wind & Fire or give away your age.
Kirsten Smith and Karen McCullah wrote the script at a time when teen rom-coms based on the classics were trending in Hollywood. Inspired by The Taming of the Shrew, "10 Things I Hate About You" featured an ensemble of mostly teen-age actors. It was the big-screen breakthrough for TV stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Larisa Oleynik, and Gabrielle Union, not to mention relative newcomer Julia Stiles and relative unknown Australian TV actor Heath Ledger. The dialogue was fresh as their faces, likewise the soundtrack featuring Semisonic, Letters to Cleo and Ledger's rendition of Frankie Valli's "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" backed by a high-school marching band.
"They were not intentional," the actress told Cosmopolitan UK in 2015. "On some level I knew that I was supposed to be somewhat emotional, because when we did the table read I remember I justsaidthe poem, and I could have been reciting the phone book." The actor turned founder of Full Circle, a spiritual and wellness center in Venice, Calif., concluded, "I have heard about that scene for my whole adult life, so I think I did a pretty good job." Enter Australian actor Heath Ledger, who had yet to be in an American film, and everyone who watched his audition thought "movie star." "He was just magnetic," Karen McCullah said.
And no wonder Oleynik thought she was right for Kat. In real life, she's the one who went on to attend the elder Stratford sister's dream school, Sarah Lawrence College, in New York. The final scene of the movie zooms in on a band performing on top of the high school.
"The experience is actually what I love the most about that whole thing," he said. "Even if people didn't like the movie, we had such a good time. All of us hung out, all the time." Check out 10 Things I Hate About You soundtrack and 49 songs. The film's best moment comes courtesy of Patrick and his microphone. In an attempt to win Kat over, he bribes the band to play Frankie Valli's "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" to serenade her during soccer practice. You might think Kat would be totally turned off by this very public display of affection, but you'd be wrong — she laughs and smiles, and after Patrick ends up in detention, flashes the teacher to get him out (remember that from before? Still creepy).
The soundtrack features The Cardigans, Madness, and George Clinton, and both Save Ferris and Letters to Cleo perform in the film. The latter somehow managed to hold a concert on the roof of the high school, which makes zero sense but did produce a great visual. Some movies do not age well, but 10 Things holds up. There are a few cringey moments, like when Bianca uses the R-word, or when Kat flashes the soccer coach to get Patrick out of detention , but overall the movie is funny and touching — though never maudlin — when it needs to be.
The banter between Kat and Patrick is relatable to anyone who has had a secret crush, while the rumors about Patrick's history are fun (no, he doesn't know Marilyn Manson, and he's pretty sure he didn't sleep with a Spice Girl). One of the brightest stars the world lost all to soon was, of course, Heath Ledger, who tragically passed away in 2008, at only 28 years old. Known for both his pretty boy looks as well as his striking talent as an actor, Ledger was a singular star who pushed the limits of his craft as well as his own self. Playing the part of Chastity, Bianca's Stratford's supposed best friend in the film, Gabrielle Union delivered a distinct unlikability to the role, which was required of her character. With her bohemian style and love of Shakespeare, Mandella was a calm, artsy counterpart to her best friend Kat's more temperamental character. Joseph Gordon Levitt, although adorable in his teen years, has proven to the world that he is a credible, talented actor whose versatility allows him to shine whether he's playing an indie rom-com love interest, or a key part in a thriller filled with action.
It isn't packed with '90s rock legends like other teen films of the day (except for a very welcome appearance by The Cardigans with their underrated 'War'). Julia Stiles's independence as Kat also largely undermines the wager Patrick makes about her, because the movie makes it clear that she's so conscious about her own choices that she's well past the life stage of being manipulated by the ruse of a dumb bet. Heath Ledger's Patrick clearly realizes this early on, and every scene in which she chooses to let him past her emotional walls reads like a victory, not for him, but for her, because she's so consciously choosing to be vulnerable with him. That's why the scene when she reads the poem is, in my opinion, so powerful — because Julia Stiles manages to make Kat fully in command of even her rawest emotions. Even when she learns about the bet, she's never ashamed of having fallen for Patrick; instead she turns her emotional honesty into a final Hail Mary move to get what she wants. The only case in which Kat is shown to be wrong, in fact, is when she treats Bianca with disdain rather than sympathy, and lies to her rather than tell her the truth about the world.
