10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
Based on: The Taming of the Shrew (1592)
Director: Gil Junger, side note, please check out this man's IMDb pic
Had I seen this before: Yes, a long time ago
I'm kicking off a little mini-genre within the Back to School theme, which is: modern high school versions of old stories. Classics, but make it teeeeeeeen! (Something like William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet would not count, for example, because it is originally about teeeeeeens and also none of those hooligans ever see the inside of a classroom.) Since this one involves a lot of heart-on-sleeve wearing, I thought I would open with a couple of embarrassing confessions of my own. One, I did see this movie when it first came out and my main memory of it was that I was already too old to be very invested in it. Reader...this movie came out in March of 1999 when I was *holds notes at arm's length, squinting, due to advanced age* eighteen years old. But I was a second semester college freshman, which, as you know, is as far from high school as it is possible to be. Two, the second this film started I literally threw my hands in the air and said "Yeeeeeaaaaaah Barenaked Ladies!" much to the absolute non-response of my child. (This was followed immediately by "oooooh David Krumholtz!" just so you know where I'm at, enthusiasm-wise.)
So I had a couple of things going on with this movie--a lack of youthful affection for the particulars of the film but an abundance of unexpected nostalgia for at least the music of 1999, which is plentiful. For example, I had completely forgotten about the existence of the Semisonic song "Fascinating New Thing," and my brain was so distracted by its rediscovery that I couldn't tell you what was happening in that scene at all. Some sort of paint...balls? And just, the general Letters to Cleo of it all was sort of overwhelming. (I was also unable to to focus on any scene involving Andrew Keegan because every time he appeared I thought "Didn't that guy start a cult?")
The leads work pretty well--Dan came into the room and watched a few minutes of the scene at prom and then later commented that he finds Julia Styles' acting "wooden," which I felt surprisingly defensive about. But also, I'm not sure it's fair to hold any teen actor up against Heath Ledger, who is just a freight train of charisma and presence (and of making me feel lightly bummed out). I think Julia Styles is fine, and she sells the parts she really needs to (did I tear up at the poem and then roll my teary eyes at myself yes I did). I found Joseph Gordon Levitt to be on the twerpy side and if Krumholtz wasn't there keeping things moving I would have had a harder time with his whole plot line. Larisa Oleynik is very cute and looks right at home in late-90s fashion, which is mostly all she needs to be and do. (Are platform sandals back yet? Just...wondering.) Gabrielle Union is clearly too old to be in high school, let alone a sophomore, but who isn't happy to see Gabrielle Union?
As an adaptation, this movie takes a sort of interesting throw-various-things-at-the-wall approach. It's clearly modern but there are random bits of Shakespearean dialogue thrown in, and it alllllllmost works as just teenagers being overly flowery but I found it a little too scattershot and sort of jarring each time. It squeezes in references that are in some cases subtle (the sisters' last name being Stratford) and in some cases just clunky (Padua High School). Trying to contort the premise of the original story into something that works in a Y2K high school setting is not totally successful but it is ambitious, and the fact that Larry Miller is the one selling it makes it function a little better than it should, on paper. (Going from not letting either daughter date, ever, for any reason, to letting the younger daughter date if the older one does...as a...joke? ...a legitimate parenting tactic? is fully nonsensical.)
Speaking of Larry Miller, a running theme through all of these high school movies is the importance of the adult cast that our teens are bouncing off of. Miller has a deeply thankless, tiresome sort of role as the Overprotective Father of Daughters, but he gets some of the strongest laugh lines mostly due to his delivery. It would be easy for the strict parent to be the element of the film that bogs everything down, but I personally was happy every time he was on screen. (Is this because I am now significantly closer to the 40-something parent of teens than the teens? No, it's the children who are less compelling.) Is the fact that Allison Janney's principal character spends all her time openly writing erotica and is also named Ms. Perky a little bit of a hat on a hat? Sure, but I'll allow it. I thought Daryl Mitchell's abrasive English teacher was sort of funny but I was genuinely a little distressed at how easily Kat got kicked out of class, repeatedly. (She is removed from class for saying some sort of vaguely feminist and correct things about Ernest Hemingway but there is no punishment for flashing a detention teacher? Or for Bianca committing full-blown physical assault at prom? I also have some concerns about the lax safety standards about archery practice at this high school, I guess this is what happens when the principal has bratwurst on the brain at all times.)
Anyway, as someone who also likes Thai food, feminist prose, and angry girl music of the indie rock persuasion, I overall found this more charming and funny than I expected to. I also just want to point out that Kat's weird friend's Shakespeare dress looked more normal than half of the 1999 prom outfits.
Line I repeated quietly to myself: "Those damn Dawson's River kids sleeping in each other's beds and whatnot"
Is it under two hours: Yes
In conclusion: Sometimes having black underwear is just a hedge against period stains, sorry to ruin the mystique, everyone.
Bratwurst in Beer with Onions from Foodie Crush
We are introduced to Heath Ledger's character as he is being scolded for a previous "flashing" incident in the cafeteria involving a bratwurst. The joke is then elaborated on when Ms. Perky inserts it (sorry) into her florid prose. I cannot tell you how disappointed in me Anna looked when I excitedly said "oh, bratwurst!"
Up next: A teen take on a classic tale (2/4)
