We bought the 10th Anniversary re-release of 10 Things I Hate About You because it had extras, and the original DVD release didn’t. One is the commentary; one is a digital copy (which I don’t care about) on a second disc; and one is the extra “10 Things I Love About 10 Things I Hate About You 10 Years Later”. I adore “where are they now” looks back at favorite films, although this one didn’t give me what I expected.
The commentary features the co-writers Kirsten Smith and Karen McCullah Lutz (this was their first script); Andrew Keegan (who played the school stud); David Krumholtz (young manipulator); Larisa Oleynik (younger sister Bianca); and Susan May Pratt (Kat’s suicidal friend with the Shakespeare crush). It’s fun to hear them all reminiscing. They don’t always talk about the movie, but there is a good sense of their camaraderie. And I appreciated them pointing out how this movie, due to smoking, drinking, and things drawn on faces, would get an R rating today. That’s an interesting demonstration of how things have changed.
The featurette combines modern-day clips of the director, Gil Junger (this was his first movie, he came out of TV), and the writers. For the cast, they only use 10-year-old behind-the-scene clips filmed on set, which is disappointing to me. Since this was very early work for so many of them, I wanted to see a lot more “then and now” comparisons. The special also has some deleted scenes, which were neat, although reference is made to yet other edits that aren’t reflected.
The movie itself is a reworking of The Taming of the Shrew with a more female-centric viewpoint. I think it’s one of the best teen movies ever, with an astounding cast. Heath Ledger is the best-known, and lots of the flashback material talks about how great he was in different ways. Julia Stiles pulls off the difficult role of the unlikable Kat, who uses her independence to cover her pain. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is another student, as is Gabrielle Union. Teachers and adults include Larry Miller, Daryl Mitchell, and the amazing Allison Janney.
(By the way, the TV show isn’t bad, although it’s become the story of the younger sister’s quest to fit in instead of the older sister’s story. Kat has become the supporting comedy relief, while Bianca is no longer popular but struggling to get that way in a new school. Larry Miller still plays dad.)
The writers have also written Legally Blonde, Ella Enchanted, She’s the Man, and The House Bunny, all interesting takes on fairy tales with fresh viewpoints starring wonderfully strong, amazing actresses. (She’s the Man is about Amanda Bynes pretending to be a boy to play soccer, based on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. I own all of these because I enjoy them that much.) Most recently, though, they wrote the execrable The Ugly Truth, which is like the quintessential “brittle working woman can’t get a date because she needs to learn to be more feminine and less aggressive, and everything she believes is unimportant because when she finds love nothing else will matter to her” movie. It’s a disgusting blemish on an otherwise impressive record. I’ll watch 10 Things I Hate About You again instead. It’s a more honest, balanced love story.
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