''10 Things I Hate About You'' is a 1999 American teen

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typic ...

film directed by Gil Junger and starring Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger,

Joseph Gordon-Levitt Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt (; born February 17, 1981) is an American actor. He has received various accolades, including nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his leading performances ...

, and Larisa Oleynik. The screenplay, written by

Karen McCullah Lutz Karen McCullah (born December 5, 1967) is an American screenwriter and novelist most known for co-writing comedies such as ''10 Things I Hate About You'', ''Legally Blonde'', ''Ella Enchanted'', ''The House Bunny'', ''The Ugly Truth'' and ''She' ...

and Kirsten Smith, is a modernization of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's late-16th-century comedy ''

The Taming of the Shrew ''The Taming of the Shrew'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunk ...

'', retold in a late-1990s American

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

setting. In the story, new student Cameron (Gordon-Levitt) is smitten with Bianca (Oleynik) and, in order to get around her father's strict rules on dating, attempts to get bad boy Patrick (Ledger) to date Bianca's ill-tempered sister, Kat (Stiles). The film is named 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. Released March 31, 1999, ''10 Things I Hate About You'' grossed $60 million and received generally positive reviews from critics. It served as breakthrough roles for Stiles, Ledger, and Gordon-Levitt, all of whom were nominated for various teen-orientated awards. The film has since developed a

cult following A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

and is considered a classic in the teen film genre. Ten years later, the film was adapted into a television series of the same title, which ran for 20 episodes and featured Larry Miller reprising his role as Walter Stratford.

Plot

Cameron James, a new student at Padua High School in the

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

area, falls in love at first sight with beautiful and popular

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. In ...

Bianca Stratford.

Geek The word ''geek'' is a slang term originally used to describe eccentric or non-mainstream people; in current use, the word typically connotes an expert or enthusiast obsessed with a hobby or intellectual pursuit. In the past, it had a general ...

y Michael Eckman warns him that Bianca is vapid and conceited, and that her overprotective father does not allow Bianca or her older sister, the

shrew Shrews (family Soricidae) are small mole-like mammals classified in the order Eulipotyphla. True shrews are not to be confused with treeshrews, otter shrews, elephant shrews, West Indies shrews, or marsupial shrews, which belong to differ ...

ish Kat, to date. Kat, a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

, is accepted to

Sarah Lawrence College Sarah Lawrence College is a private liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York. The college models its approach to education after the Oxford/Cambridge system of one-on-one student-faculty tutorials. Sarah Lawrence scholarship, particularly ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, but her father, Walter, wants her to stay close to home. Bianca wishes to date affluent senior Joey Donner, but Walter, an obstetrician worried about

teenage pregnancy Teenage pregnancy, also known as adolescent pregnancy, is pregnancy in a female adolescent or young adult under the age of 20. This includes those who are legally considered adults in their country. The WHO defines adolescence as the period be ...

, will not allow his daughters to date until they graduate. Frustrated by Bianca's insistence and Kat's rebelliousness, Walter declares that Bianca may date only when Kat does, knowing that Kat's anti-social attitude makes this unlikely. When Cameron asks Bianca out, she informs him of her father's new rule and, as a pretense for allowing her to date Joey, suggests that Cameron find someone willing to date Kat. Cameron selects "bad boy" Patrick Verona, but Patrick scares him off. Michael assists by convincing Joey to pay Patrick to take Kat out, under the pretense that this will allow Joey to date Bianca. Patrick agrees to the deal, but Kat rebuffs his first few advances. Michael and Cameron help him by probing Bianca for information on Kat's likes and dislikes. Armed with this knowledge, Patrick begins to win Kat's interest. She goes to a party with him, which enables Bianca to go as well, much to Walter's dismay. At the party, Kat becomes upset when she sees Bianca with Joey, and responds by getting drunk. Patrick attends to her, and Kat starts to open up, expressing her interest in starting a band. However, when she tries to kiss him, Patrick pulls away and Kat leaves, infuriated. Meanwhile, Bianca ignores Cameron in favor of Joey, leaving Cameron dejected. Bianca soon realizes, however, that Joey is shallow and self-absorbed, and asks Cameron for a ride home. Cameron admits his feelings for her and his frustration with how she has treated him. Bianca responds by kissing him. Joey offers to pay Patrick to take Kat to the prom so he can take Bianca. Patrick initially refuses, but relents when Joey offers him more money. Kat is still angry with Patrick, but he wins her over by serenading her with the accompaniment of the

marching band A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who perform while marching, often for entertainment or competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. Most marching bands wear a uniform, o ...

, and she helps him sneak out of detention. They go on a date which turns romantic, but Kat becomes suspicious and angry when Patrick insists that she go with him to the prom, an event she is adamantly against. Bianca is irritated that Cameron hasn't asked her to the prom, and so accepts Joey's invitation, but Walter won't allow it unless Kat goes too. Kat confesses to Bianca that she dated Joey when they were freshmen and, succumbing to peer pressure, had sex with him. Afterwards she regretted it and Joey dumped her, so she vowed to never again do anything just because everyone else was doing it. Bianca insists that she can make her own choices, so Kat agrees to go to the prom with Patrick, and Bianca decides to go with Cameron instead of Joey. All is going well at the prom until Bianca learns that Joey planned to have sex with her that night. Angry that Bianca has spurned him for Cameron, Joey reveals his arrangement with Patrick, which causes Kat to leave heartbroken. Joey then punches Cameron, but is in turn beaten up by Bianca for having hurt her, Kat, and Cameron. Bianca and Cameron share another kiss. The next day, Bianca reconciles with Kat and begins dating Cameron. Walter admits that Kat is capable of taking care of herself, and gives her permission to attend Sarah Lawrence College. For an assignment in which the students were required to write their own version of

's Sonnet 141, Kat reads aloud a poem titled "10 Things I Hate About You", revealing that she still loves Patrick. Patrick surprises her with a Fender Stratocaster bought with the money that Joey paid him, and confesses that he has fallen for her. Kat forgives him, and the two make up with a kiss.

Cast

* Julia Stiles as Katarina "Kat" Stratford, the anti-social,

ish elder Stratford sister. * Heath Ledger as Patrick Verona, the Australian " bad boy" who is hired to date Kat and falls for her in the process. *

as Cameron James, the new student at Padua High School who is smitten with Bianca and goes to great lengths to win her favor. * Larisa Oleynik as Bianca Stratford, the younger of the two Stratford sisters, superficial and popular. * Larry Miller as Walter Stratford, an obstetrician and

single parent A single parent is a person who has a child or children but does not have a spouse or live-in partner to assist in the upbringing or support of the child. Reasons for becoming a single parent include divorce, break-up, abandonment, becoming wid ...

who is overprotective of his daughters, Kat and Bianca. *

Andrew Keegan Andrew Keegan (born January 29, 1979) is an American actor best known for his roles in television shows including '' Trinkets'', '' Moesha'', ''Party of Five'' and '' 7th Heaven'' and in films such as ''10 Things I Hate about You'' (1999), '' The ...

as Joey Donner, an affluent, self-absorbed high school senior and aspiring model who intends to have sex with Bianca, and to that end pays Patrick to date Kat. * David Krumholtz as Michael Eckman, a

geek The word ''geek'' is a slang term originally used to describe eccentric or non-mainstream people; in current use, the word typically connotes an expert or enthusiast obsessed with a hobby or intellectual pursuit. In the past, it had a general ...

who assists Cameron in his quest to woo Bianca, and in the process tries to woo Kat's friend Mandella. *

Susan May Pratt Susan May Pratt (born February 8, 1974) is an American actress. She played Mandella in ''10 Things I Hate About You'', Alicia in '' Drive Me Crazy'', and Maureen Cummings in '' Center Stage''. Personal life , Pratt was finishing her bachelor's ...

as Mandella, Kat's only close friend and an aficionado of

, who ends up going to the prom with Michael. *

Gabrielle Union Gabrielle Monique Union-Wade ( Union; born October 29, 1972) is an American actress. Her career began in the 1990s, when she made dozens of appearances on television sitcoms, prior to landing supporting roles in 1999 teen films ''She's All That ...

as Chastity Church, Bianca's best friend, who betrays Bianca by going out with Joey when Bianca spurns him. * Daryl Mitchell as Mr. Morgan, teacher of Kat, Patrick, and Joey's

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

class. * Allison Janney as Ms. Perky, Padua High School's guidance counselor and a writer of erotic literature. *

David Leisure David Russell Leisure (born November 16, 1950) is an American actor. He played Charley Dietz in the sitcom ''Empty Nest'' from 1988 to 1995 and fictional automotive "pitch man" Joe Isuzu in a series of North American television commercials for ...

as Mr. Chapin, coach of the girls' soccer team. * Greg Jackson as "Scurvy", a friend of Patrick. * Kyle Cease as Bogey Lowenstein, a golf enthusiast and member of a clique of aspiring MBAs. * The band

Letters to Cleo Letters to Cleo is an American alternative rock band originating from Boston, Massachusetts, best known for the 1994 single, "Here & Now", from their full-length debut album, '' Aurora Gory Alice''. The band's members are Kay Hanley, Greg McKe ...

(singer

Kay Hanley Kay Hanley is an American singer and songwriter. She is best known as the vocalist for the alternative rock band Letters to Cleo. Life and career Hanley grew up in Dorchester, Massachusetts across the street from the Wahlberg family. She atte ...

, guitarists Greg McKenna and Michael Eisenstein, bassist Scott Riebling, and drummer Jason Sutter) appears as the band performing at Club Skunk, playing their songs "Come On" and "Co-Pilot", and playing a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song relea ...

Cheap Trick Cheap Trick is an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1973 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. The current lineup of the band consists of Zander, Nielsen a ...

'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 Nicholas Drain Lowe (born 24 March 1949) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer. A noted figure in power pop and new wave,Cruel to Be Kind "Cruel to Be Kind" is a song by Nick Lowe, co-written by Lowe and his former Brinsley Schwarz bandmate Ian Gomm. Written by Lowe and Gomm while the pair were in Brinsley Schwarz, the song was saved on a demo until Columbia Records convinced L ...

" with Save Ferris. * The band Save Ferris (singer Monique Powell, guitarist Brian Mashburn, bassist Bill Uechi, trumpeter José Castellaños, trombonist Brian Williams, saxophonist Eric Zamora, and drummer Evan Kilbourne) appears as the band performing at the prom, playing their songs "I Know" and "Can't Stop" as well as covers of The Isley Brothers' " Shout" and Nick Lowe's "Cruel to Be Kind".

Production

The script for the film was finalized in November 1997. Many of the scenes were filmed on location at Stadium High School and at a house in the North End of

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Pa ...

. The prom sequence was shot over three days in Seattle.Write-up on CinemaReview.com
. Retrieved May 24, 2008. 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

's vintage tuxes came from Isadora's in Seattle. Josh Hartnett and Ashton Kutcher were in the running to play Patrick. Eliza Dushku auditioned for the role of Kat.

Katie Holmes Kate Noelle Holmes (born December 18, 1978) is an American actress. She first achieved fame as Joey Potter on the television series '' Dawson's Creek'' (1998–2003). Holmes made her feature film debut in 1997 with a supporting role in Ang L ...

was also considered for the role. Kate Hudson was offered the part but her mother ( Goldie Hawn) didn't like the script so she forced her to pass on the role.

Release

In its opening weekend, the film grossed $8.3 million in 2,271 theaters domestically (averaging $3,668 per venue), finishing number two at the box office behind '' The Matrix''. It grossed a total of $38.2 million in the United States and Canada, and $15.3 million, in other territories, for $53.5 million worldwide.

Reception

On review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 71% based on 82 reviews, with an average rating of 6.3/10. The website's critics consensus states: "Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger add strong performances to an unexpectedly clever script, elevating ''10 Things'' (slightly) above typical teen fare."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

assigned the film a weighted average score of 70 out of 100, based on 26 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews." Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...

gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale. 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." Ron Wells, another critic from Film Threat, expressed, "Of all the teen films released this year, this one is, by far, the best."

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying that he "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. The movie almost but not quite achieves liftoff against the gravitational pull of the tired story formula." ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular ...

'' listed the film at #49 on its list of Best High School Movies.

Accolades

''10 Things I Hate About You'' provided

breakthrough role A breakthrough role, also known as a breakout role, is a term in the film industry to describe the performance of an actor or actress which contributed significantly to the development of their career and beginning of critical recognition. The si ...

s for stars Stiles, Ledger, and Gordon-Levitt. Gordon-Levitt, Stiles, and Oleynik each received Young Star Award nominations for Best Actor/Actress in a Comedy Film. The movie was nominated for seven

Teen Choice Awards The Teen Choice Awards is an annual awards show that airs on the Fox television network. The awards honor the year's biggest achievements in music, film, sports, television, fashion, social media, and more, voted by viewers living in the United ...

: Choice Movie: Breakout Star (Stiles), Choice Movie: Comedy, Choice Movie: Funniest Scene (featuring Krumholtz), Choice Movie: Love Scene (featuring Stiles and Ledger), Choice Movie: Hissy Fit (Gordon-Levitt), Choice Movie: Villain (Andrew Keegan) and Choice Movie: Soundtrack. 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 The Chicago Film Critics Association (CFCA) is an association of professional film critics, who work in print, broadcast and online media, based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The organization was founded in 1990 by film critics Sharon LeM ...

for "Most Promising Actress" for her role as Kat Stratford (tied with

Émilie Dequenne Émilie Dequenne (, born 29 August 1981) is a Belgian actress. She first gained attention for playing the title character in the film ''Rosetta'' (1999), which earned her the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress. She then went on to star ...

in ''

Rosetta Rosetta or Rashid (; ar, رشيد ' ; french: Rosette ; cop, ϯⲣⲁϣⲓⲧ ''ti-Rashit'', Ancient Greek: Βολβιτίνη ''Bolbitinē'') is a port city of the Nile Delta, east of Alexandria, in Egypt's Beheira governorate. The R ...

'') and an MTV Movie Award for Breakthrough Female Performance. Ledger was also nominated for an MTV Movie Award for Best Musical Performance for the song " Can't Take My Eyes Off You".

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack album, featuring

performing

s of

's " I Want You to Want Me" and

", stayed on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart for seven weeks, peaking at no. 52. Reviewer S. Peeples of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

rated it 3 stars out of 5, calling it "one of the best modern rock soundtracks of the spring 1999 season".

Certifications

Adaptations

In June 1999, the

Scholastic Corporation Scholastic Corporation () is an American multinational publishing, education, and media company that publishes and distributes books, comics, and educational materials for schools, parents, and children. Products are distributed via retail and on ...

published a

novelization A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of ...

of the story, adapted by

David Levithan David Levithan (born September 7, 1972) is an American young adult fiction author and editor."David Levithan". October 30, 2008. Gale Database. ''Contemporary Authors Online''. UWM Golda Meir Library, Milwaukee. July 1, 2009. He has written nume ...

. The story is retold as it is in the film with each chapter written from the point of view of either Bianca, Cameron, Kat, Patrick, or Michael. In October 2008,

ABC Family The American cable and satellite television network that is now known as Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through several different owners (and six different name changes) during its h ...

ordered a

pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in television in the United States, United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a te ...

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 Carter Covington ( 1973) is an American television show creator, writer, story editor and producer. He is known for his screenwriting on two television series which aired on the ABC Family network: ''Greek'' and ''10 Things I Hate About You''. ...

. The show premiered on July 7, 2009, and ended on May 24, 2010, lasting only 20 episodes.

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control 1999 films 1999 directorial debut films 1990s coming-of-age comedy films 1990s feminist films 1990s high school films 1999 romantic comedy films 1990s teen comedy films 1990s teen romance films American coming-of-age comedy films American feminist films American high school films American romantic comedy films American teen comedy films American teen romance films Coming-of-age romance films 1990s English-language films Films about proms Films adapted into television shows Films based on The Taming of the Shrew Films directed by Gil Junger Films scored by Richard Gibbs Films set in Seattle Films set in Washington (state) Films shot in Seattle Films shot in Washington (state) Modern adaptations of works by William Shakespeare Teen films based on works by William Shakespeare Touchstone Pictures films Films about sisters Films about father–daughter relationships 1990s American films