10 Things I Hate About You (1999) is the best romantic comedy

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

There is a ton of romantic media trying to take your attention during the holiday season. You should carve out some time for this classic!

As it is Valentine’s season, I have been partaking in an inordinate amount of television, movies, music, and literature focused on the topic of love. From Taylor Swift’s quintessential slow jam “cowboy like me” to Olivia Gatwood’s unflinching poem  “Aileen Wuornos Takes a Lover Home,” there is so much stellar media on the topic that it can be hard to know what is the best or which piece should take up our time during this season. 

The release of 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), though, marked a nearing turn of the century, alongside it being the last romantic comedy, or romcom, that ever needed to be made. So, while you are squeezing in another watch of a Gilmore Girls (2000-2007) Luke/Lorelai supercut, carve out some time for this hit. 

While the chemistry and charisma of the movie’s leads, Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles would be strong enough to make the film worth a rewatch, what pushes it into greatness is how equally stacked the rest of the cast is. 

Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s portrayal of Cameron makes him more than just some hopeless, pining young teen. The biting banter between him and Michael Eckman (David Krumholtz) serves as a lighthearted and supportive depiction of platonic attachments as well as just the romantic. His confessional car scene with love interest Bianca Stratford (Larisa Oleynik) is a standout moment from this movie, his character’s building insecurities, frustrations, and hopes culminating to usher this “b-plot” romance into one rivaling the movie’s main plot. 

Even the high school’s principal, Mrs. Perky (Allison Janney)—who appears in no more than seven minutes of the entire movie— stays with the watcher as we follow her journey of trying to help run a school while writing her steamy romance novel in the background. Each performance in this movie is memorable, unconventional, and electric, hooking the viewer into the film’s intertwining plot lines and creating a myriad of hilarious and moving conversations, dynamics, and clippable moments. 

This then rolls into my next point: This movie does great to not only show different kinds of romance but also different kinds of relationships more broadly. For the straight-up romantic looking just for the swoon-worthy, 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) is a certain match, as at least four romance plots are happening concurrently in this movie’s taut 97-minute runtime. Even with this seeming excess, each romance plot feels exciting and unique. 

While Katarina “Kat” Stratford (Julia Stiles) and Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger) depict two misunderstood, outcast teens falling in love after Patrick is paid to take Kat out, there also is Bianca Stratford and Joey Donner (Andrew Keegan) as the hyper-femme naive “princess in her tower” finding herself infatuated with self-interested jock— only for Bianca to be “saved” by her metaphoric bleeding-heart love interest Cameron James. 

This does not even go into mention whatever is happening in the “c-plot” romance between Michael Eckman and Mandella (Susan May Pratt), which serves as an absurd nod to the movie’s source material (you really can only witness this; no description does it justice). 

While, yes, the romances are trope-y at their core and a bit problematic at times, I think the movie is refreshingly self-aware of this fact. More notable is how the movie is able to make fun of and subvert itself, all while taking its characters and their stories very seriously. It handles the clashing personalities of sisters Kat and Bianca in a very nuanced way that speaks to the tumultuous experiences of teenagehood, especially while they both deal with their mother’s recent departure from the family. Watching them both navigate their overprotective father (Larry Miller) with good intentions—but questionable tactics—is not only laughter-bringing but oddly realistic.

This movie truly stands out amongst others in its genre. Though made for a teen audience, it does an excellent job of telling a story that could appeal to any watcher and has stayed with me as I grow into adulthood. If, though, you still fear people taking your love for this movie seriously, just do what I do, and talk about how it is a brilliantly done modern-day adaptation of Shakespear’s “The Taming of the Shrew” without all the “doth-ing” (well, at least for the most part). 

If my staunch backing of this movie has inspired you, you can watch it on Disney+. I feel it is a great way to spend your Valentine’s Day, whether alone, with friends, or with a significant other!