Ten Things I Hate About You

There’s a case to be made for “The Taming of the Shrew” being one of Shakespeare’s worst plays, so go figure that an adaptation aimed at teens (released during a glut of such material) ended up being one of the best films of the 90’s. The secret: translate everything into teen terms, ignore the text when convenient, and trust the actors to get the comedy and drama over. It’s got the 90’s stank on it, and certain plot elements feel influenced more by rom-com necessity than what the Bard would want, but sixteen years later and it still has power.

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