A Million Things I Love About This Film (10 Things I Hate About You (DVD))

Member Name: Pingu

Product:	10 Things I Hate About You (DVD)
Date:	17/10/01 (143 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great acting, Not too many cliches

Disadvantages: Unconvincing end

OK, I'm a male, 29 year old, built like a rugby player, and with a tendency to like violent computer games. So what am I doing endorsing a teen chick-flick? You've got me. I have no idea, except that I absolutely loved this film.

It's just a little bit different from the average cliche-ridden teen-flick. And it doesn't have the false pretences to heart-searing angst that ruins Dawson's Creek and Popular, and other such shows.

There are a number of parallel plots to the film, tied together by a cunning ploy. A young man arrives in a new high school, takes one look at a girl called Bianca, and decides he absolutely has to date her. Problem! Her unhinged, gynaecologist dad doesn't let her date, at least not until her sister Cat starts dating. So the young man just has to find a date for Cat. Problem! She is a particularly aggressive tom-boy, with a scowl that could kill at 10000 yards, and is about as likely to date as a mother superior. Enter Heath Ledger, who plays a mysterious, rough-hewn teen, about whom there are all kinds of rumours circulating; ex-con, ate a live duck, sold his own liver, etc, etc. He seems about the only likely candidate who could tame Cat. But it's going to take money to persuade him. So our young man engages a third party, a male model called Joey, who also wants to date Bianca, and has aforementioned spondoolies. He tells Joey that he could date Bianca if he paid the roughian to date Cat. Meanwhile he intends to steal Bianca out from under Joey's nose. Quite a risky way to get the girl, you might think.

There are some brilliant scenes. Imagine, for instance, Heath Ledger singing, "I Love You Baby," to the accompaniment of the school marching band, whilst dancing around the arena seating of the school playing field in the style of Lionel Blair. And the acting is brilliant. OK, possibly nothing to unthrone Dustin Hoffman, but certainly some of the most consistent teen acting
you will see, and everyone has to start somewhere. Certainly it's better acted than Dawson's Creek or Buffy.

The only slight disappointment is the ending, which is unconvincing. I can't tell you why, because it would give away the plot. Suffice it to say one of the main characters goes from being really, really mad at one of the others, to being totally reconciled, in the space of a few seconds, without anything which would have brought about the change. It's almost as if the scriptwriter wrote himself into a corner, realised he needed an extra half hour to work everything out properly, and said, "Oh, stuff it. Let's do the happy ending now."

Otherwise the film is brilliant - I thouroughly recommend it.

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