The movie “ Ten Things I Hate About You” is the average high school drama, but with an interesting twist. From the classic single dad with the two daughters, the hot and the not, the movie seems more than predictable from the start.

As it continues and the two girls Kat (Julia Stiles) and Bianca (Larisa Oleynik) are easily relatable to any highschooler. Viewers are then forced to pick a side: The hot girl Bianca, or the artsy girl Kat. And any teenage girl would know to pick the artsy character because she will obviously be the one with the more intriguing story. The movie continues with the classic sister to sister fighting as Bianca bitches out her sister for ruining her boy life. Dad is more than lost as he tries to help the girls and balance his career as a single dad and his professional career.

The classic boy meets girl story is given a sudden twist by the character traits of bad boy Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger).  His scariness, his punk artist, cigarette smoking creeper attitude, makes him an automatic turnoff for all viewers who don’t know how he’s going to end up. For the more experienced chickflickers, his unusual and surprising moves on stubborn man-hating Kat send a chill down their spines as they too fall for this badboy.

The funky guidance counselor adds more humor to the movie as she seems more invested in her self written porn novels, than she does in the issues of her students. Her funk attitude plus dads complete unawareness of how to raise two teenage girls, help support the idea that the movie is a romantic comedy, as well as make the audience chuckle.

The addition of attractive characters, such as bad boy Verona and all of Biancas multiple lovers, gives the viewers something more to look and talk about as they sit from beginning of the movie to the end seeing which boy ends with which girl, or if any of them even end up together after all.

Director Gil Junger intrigues viewers with his casting of Julia Stiles, Larisa Oleynik, Heath Ledger, Walter Stratford, and his different ideas with teen dramas. His choice of making the two main characters sisters who must find a balance with one another to be able to fall in love, is original from the time as well as Junger’s ideas to mix 90’s romance with Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew The classic high school romance differs some from other teen dramas, but a definite stand out in late 90’s romantics comedies.