10 Things I Hate About You MPAA Rating: PG-13 Entertainment: +3 Content: -2 1/2

Teenagers Bianca and Kat Stratford (Larisa Oleynik and Julia Stiles) are very different. Bianca is pretty, popular and furious because her single dad (Larry Miller) won't let her date. He makes a rule that Bianca can't date until her older sister does. But no one is likely to ask outspoken, scary Kat for a date. She's smarter than the teachers, hates silly chatter and intimidates the guys with scathing remarks about their manhood. A new student, Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), decides to arrange a date for Kat so he can date Bianca. Another outcast, Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger), agrees to date Kat for $50. Predictably, the two misfits become a perfect match, but this teen flick is smarter and funnier than other recent films of the same genre. Kat and Bianca's dad is hilarious as an over-protective parent going to great lengths to keep his daughters pure.10 THINGS will probably be a box office success.

Funny, however, comes with a price. The crude humor consists of at least 15 slang words for male genitals. The high school counselor writes steamy love scenes and reads aloud her graphic descriptions. The English teacher, a young black man, quotes Shakespeare in rap, then spouts off s-words when students don't respond. Students either comatose in the classroom or smarter than their teachers reflect the film's lack of respect for educators. Teenagers crash parties, trash the host's home, get drunk on beer and hard liquor and fight. Kat gets drunk on her first date and throws up on Patrick. Kat's bad attitude hides her insecurity and hurt by the rejection of her peers. She deliberately backs into a classmate's new car, lashes out insults, and seems to hate her sister. She begins to win respect from students by exposing her breasts, with her back to the camera, for a shocked coach. Couples engage in heavy petting at a party, and before Bianca can go on a date, her father makes her try on a pillow in the shape of a pregnant woman to remind her of the consequences of sex. Four s-words, plus 29 other obscenities and many crudities add to the film's offensive elements.

Preview Reviewer: Mary Draughon
Distributor: Buena Vista - Touchstone Pictures