10 Things I Hate About You (1999)

Entertainment Weekly
"...Surprisingly well-acted..." -- Rating: B 10/08/1999 p.76

New York Times
"...10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU has its charms, most notably Julia Stiles' brash, cheeky portrayal....She is a breath of fresh air..." 03/31/1999 p.E11

Box Office
"...An enjoyable, good old-fashioned modernized love story..." 06/01/1999 p.70

Los Angeles Times
"...As satirical as it is romantic, this is one teen film that is wise enough to span generations in its appeal....10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU is slick and brisk..." 03/31/1999 p.F1

Chicago Sun-Times
"...The movie is charming....[The music] is subtle and inventive while still cheerful..." 03/31/1999 p.49

Chicago Sun-Times 0 of 10
10 Things I Hate About You is inspired, in a sortuva kinduva way, by Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, in the same sense that Starship Troopers was inspired by Titus Andronicus. It doesn't remake Shakespeare so much as evoke him as a talisman, by setting its story at Padua High School, naming its characters Stratford and Verona, making one of the heroines a shrew, etc. There is even a scene where the shrew is assigned to rewrite a Shakespeare sonnet... I think we simply have to dump the entire plot and appreciate the performances and some of the jolliest scenes. I liked the spirit of the high school teachers. Allison Janney is the sex-mad counselor, and Daryl "Chill" Mitchell is the English teacher who performs Shakespeare's sonnets as if they were rap lyrics. I also liked the sweet, tentative feeling between Ledger and Stiles. He has a scene that brings the whole movie to an enjoyable halt. Trying to win her heart, he waits until she's on the athletic field, and then sings "I love you baby" over the P.A. system, having bribed the school's marching band to accompany him... I liked the movie's spirit... 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. Sometimes it's a mistake to have acting this charming; the characters become so engaging and spontaneous, we notice how they're trapped in the plot. - Roger Ebert
 
Boxoffice Magazine 0 of 10
Coming off the heels of the recently released Cruel Intentions, a teenage version of Choderlos de Laclos' Dangerous Liaisons, 10 Things I Hate About You offers up its own modernized high school-set rendering of a classic, this time with Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew... Largely buoyed by the well-rounded performances of Stiles and Ledger, 10 Things I Hate About You has potential appeal for audiences beyond its target teen market. [Julia] Stiles' Kat is a multifaceted and contentious heroine who simultaneously exudes charm and fierceness through her sworn devotion to remaining an individual and never following the crowd. [Heath] Ledger's Patrick is similarly pleasing, bringing a freshness to the tried-and-true rebellious character who really has a poetic soul and is simply misunderstood. The chemistry between these two headstrong personalities is without a doubt the most compelling aspect of the movie...10 Things I Hate About You is overall an enjoyable, good old...fashioned modernized love story. - Francesca Dinglasan