“10 Things I Hate About You” offers ‘1 More Reason I’m Sorry Heath Ledger Died.’ While this film has been around since 2009, last week was the first time I ever saw it. Thanks to the new 10 year anniversary Bluray Edition that Touchstone has released, I now see why Ledger made such an impression on American audiences with his first big break on these shores. Having heard of this movie on and off over the years, I only also recently realized that it was a slightly modern day re-telling of Shakespeare’s great “Taming of the Shrew.” The film follows young Bianca Strarford (Larisa Oleynik) as a very popular high school student ready to spread her wings and start dating. Unfortunately her father (Larry Miller) has no intention of letting her date until her older sister Katrina (Julia Stiles) starts. Katrina has issues of her own however, and tends to push away every guy who shows even a minimal interest in her.

So begins Bianca’s plan. With the help of her wannabe boyfriend (Andrew Keegan) they pay Patrick (Heath Ledger), who has issues of his own, to pursue Katrina. What could have been just an ordinary teen comedy turned out to be a very smart and insightful little movie.

It’s not a perfect movie to be sure, but it is full of wonderful performances by its young cast. Most notable are David Krumhotlz (whom we all love from “Numb3rs”), who is terrific as the nerdy friend of Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), both of whom want Bianca to drop her jerk of a boyfriend so she will notice them. The film also chooses to eschew the broad sexual innuendos that less imaginative writers have to put into teen comedies nowadays in order to get to the character’s true emotions. Where the ball is dropped is in the depiction of the adults, many of whom are less realistic in their actions.

The new Bluray release of this ten year old movie offers up a decent transfer, with only a hint of softness to the image at times. The audio mix, while not truly immersive, is still pretty well balanced. As for extra features, there are two. First up is a brand new commentary that teams writers Karen McCullah and Kirsten Smith with actors Andrew Keegan, David Krumholtz, Susan May Pratt and Larisa Oleynik as they reminisce about the making of the film. It’s a fairly light hearted commentary, full of little anecdotes. You’ll also find a lengthy making of documentary that goes into great detail about the film.

If you have never seen “10 Things I Hate About You” and think it will be just another teen comedy, think again. It was new to me when I saw it last week and it completely surpassed all of my expectations.

Directed by: Gil Junger
Starring: Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Larisa Oleynik, Larry Miller, Andrew Keegan, David Krumholtz
Extras: 10 Things I Love About 10 Things I Hate About you 10 Years Later; Deleted Scenes; Writers and Cast Audio Commentary
Specification: 1080p (1.85:1); DTS HD Master Audio 5.1
Studio: Touchstone
Release Date: 01/05/2009
MPAA Rating: PG-13
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We'll give 10 Things I Hate About You (Bluray) a B.