Verdict
Summary
An interesting take on Shakespeare’s ‘Taming of the Shrew,’ with powerhouse performances by Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles.
Plot: Cameron James (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) faces the impossible task of finding someone to take out headstrong Kat Stratford (Julia Stiles) so he can date Kat’s sister, Bianca (Larisa Oleynik).
Review: Man, the ’90s were all about teenage rom-coms, weren’t they? You had Clueless, Can’t Hardly Wait, and 10 Things I Hate About You. This was a movie I always wanted to see, not only because of my love of Shakespeare’s plays but also because it featured a very young Heath Ledger – you know before he asked everyone” Why So Serious?” in a small film, no one ever heard of called The Dark Knight.
I haven’t read Taming of the Shrew since Grade 9, but I still remembered the story, and it was neat to see the movie give nods to the play – for example, the high school they all attend is Padua. Kat is called a shrew, and despite not using the last names of the sisters from the play, their last name is Stratford – obviously a nod to the Bard. A lot of the film doesn’t follow the play (for example, Kat is not stopped from eating or drinking by Petruchio… er…Patrick….).
Overall, I found the movie to be enjoyable. It’s wild to see these types of films and what was considered hip back in the day – no one’s walking around with cell phones or air pods, and kids still wrote things out on paper. Crazy! Back in the 90s, though, it was par for the course. It has a nice innocence…I was thrown off by the Apple logo on the back of Ms. Perky’s laptop, though, and her work processing program made me kind of cringe – it looked like she was writing her novel on Notepad.
The performances were excellent, with Ledger, Stiles, Oleynik and Gordon-Levitt all shining. My favourite character, though, was David Krumholtz’s Michael Eckman, though. This guy is forced to show Gordon-Levitt’s character around at the beginning of the film and stays with Gordon-Levitt as his friend throughout the flick. There’s no vast backstory or ten-hour explanation of why they’re friends; it’s just an instant connection, and boom! Friendship. That’s why storytelling used to be awesome. Kudos has to go to Stiles, too; her character could have instantly become irritating, but she toed the line with poise and finesse.
There were some funny parts; I found Alison Janney’s Ms. Perky hilarious for some reason. She didn’t care about the kids and didn’t even care to pretend to care – she just did the bare minimum. She had erotic literature to write, damn it! Then there’s Daryl Mitchell’s English teacher, who I also found hilarious. He was always looking to throw Kat out of class, even if there was no reason, and he had some of the funniest lines in the movie.
As for parts I didn’t like, there was nothing off the top of my head I can think of. The score was nothing to write home about, but it was refreshing that they chose a non-Los Angeles setting (Seattle). There weren’t any CGI or action scenes in sight, so there is nothing to comment about here. I wouldn’t say it was laughs-a-minute, but the characters were endearing and managed to play through the cliché parts without a problem.
That’s all you really want, too. I mean, not every movie has to be 12 Angry Men; cliché has its place as long as it’s done right. I think choosing Taming of the Shrew as the basis of the film was a smart move, but swerving away from the more unsavoury parts of the story when needed. The cast was appealing, and nothing in the movie made me roll my eyes in disdain. Isn’t that all we’re asking for when the credits roll?