10 Greatest Motion pictures Like 10 Issues I Hate About You

When “10 Issues I Hate About You” was launched in 1999, it featured a solid of swoon-worthy younger stars. Joseph Gordon-Levitt (who wasn’t sold on the movie at first), Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles, and Larisa Oleynik had been the movie’s core 4, however the supporting solid was rounded out by actors like Gabrielle Union, David Krumholtz, Andrew Keegan, and Allison Janney, and everybody delivers a enjoyable efficiency. The up to date film is definitely an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s basic play “The Taming of the Shrew,” setting the romantic comedy at a contemporary highschool as an alternative of the olden days. It is a couple of fairly woman named Bianca (Oleynik) who is not allowed so far till her uptight older sister Kat (Stiles) is taken; because of this, Cameron (Gordon-Levitt) pays the rambunctious Patrick (Ledger) to woo Kat. Hijinks ensue.

For those who’re a fan of the basic teen comedy, however you are getting uninterested in rewatching Kat recite the titular poem, there are many different movies that will scratch an identical itch. “10 Issues I Hate About You” was a part of a wave of 90s/00s Shakespearean diversifications that tried to inform basic tales in new settings, so there are tons extra to discover. Or possibly it is the movie’s younger stars that carry you again time and time once more; in spite of everything, who can resist a heartthrob like Ledger? 

Learn on for some suggestions for the place to go subsequent, with our 10 greatest motion pictures like “10 Issues I Hate About You.”

“She’s All That,” which got here out the identical 12 months as “10 Issues I Hate About You,” is one other try and adapt a basic play for youngsters. This one wasn’t Shakespeare, however it’s a free adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion,” itself famously tailored as “My Truthful Woman.” In different phrases, not in contrast to “10 Issues,” the 1999 teenage romantic comedy “She’s All That” is all about makeovers and an try to show somebody how one can behave in a method that features them acceptance in a selected social class. It is excellent highschool fodder.

Freddie Prinze Jr. performs Zack, a cool child late in his senior 12 months who cannot consider it when his girlfriend Taylor (Jodi Lyn O’Keefe) leaves him for Brock (Matthew Lillard), one of many stars of “The Actual World.” Not desirous to go to promenade alone, Zack bets his buddies (Dulé Hill and Paul Walker) that he’ll be capable to flip geeky outcast Laney Boggs (Rachael Leigh Cook dinner) into a well-liked woman in time for the dance. As in “10 Issues,” to nobody’s shock, he truly falls for the woman.

The solid is a who’s-who of 90s-famous people, a lot of whom are much more well-known now. You will spot “10 Issues” star Gabrielle Union, Anna Paquin, and Kieran Culkin in supporting roles, and there are cameos by Lil Kim and Usher, to not point out Milo Ventimiglia enjoying a soccer participant with no strains. Even Prinze’s now-wife (and frequent co-star) Sarah Michelle Gellar exhibits up briefly. It is a deal with.

One of many issues that makes “10 Issues I Hate About You” work is Heath Ledger’s simple charisma. Though he is enjoying a rogue — a personality who’s mendacity to the woman he is supposedly in love with in a method that is assured to harm her when she finds out — you possibly can’t assist however love watching him. He is simply that a lot of a heartthrob, an irresistible bundle of vitality and magnetism.

For an additional heaping dose of Ledger’s appeal, take a look at his ridiculous (and ridiculously-fun) film “A Knight’s Tale.” Like many different movies on this checklist, it is a very free adaptation of some very outdated supply materials. On this case, the plot of the movie kind of resembles the story informed by the knight in Geoffrey Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales.” Author-director Brian Helgeland’s film finds Ledger enjoying William Thatcher, a peasant who’s all the time needed to be a knight. When he hears of a jousting match, the winsome rascal goes undercover as Sir Ulrich von Liechtenstein of Gelderland, a knight who desires to compete.

“A Knight’s Story” is intentionally anachronistic, together with songs like Queen’s “We Are The Champions” and Skinny Lizzy’s “The Boys Are Again In City.” The anachronisms worm their method into the world of the story, too, together with one swimsuit of armor that sports activities an enormous Nike swoosh. It is a delightfully foolish option to immerse trendy audiences within the film’s medieval world, and it completely works, all because of Ledger’s indeniable attraction.

Two years after she starred in “10 Issues I Hate About You,” Julia Stiles starred in yet one more movie that transposed a Shakespearean basic onto an American highschool setting. “O” is an adaptation of “Othello,” the Bard’s iconic play a couple of Black man coping with a harmful, double-crossing, pretend good friend –0 an ideal story to inform with youngsters. Not like “10 Issues I Hate About You,” although, this one is not a comedy. “Othello” is likely one of the tragedies, and as such, “O” is a relatively darkish movie about rage and resentment.

In “O,” Othello is definitely Odin (Mekhi Pfifer). He is a star basketball participant who’s relationship a lady named Desi (Stiles), an replace of Shakespeare’s Desdemona. This enrages his greatest good friend Hugo (Josh Hartnett), the movie’s model of the duplicitous, villainous Iago, and Hugo units out to destroy Odin’s relationship.

There have been quite a few cinematic makes an attempt to show Shakespeare into one thing enjoyable and lighthearted for youngsters, so “O” deserves credit score for enjoying it straight. The film typically ideas over into melodrama, however that is not essentially a foul factor; youngsters deserve the respect of getting their romantic foibles and friendships taken significantly, which “O” does nicely. It is also an attention-grabbing examination of the racial politics of American excessive colleges on the flip of the twenty first century. The movie got here out on August 31, 2001, and we quickly had different issues on our thoughts for some time, however watching “O” is to revisit a time simply earlier than the world would change.

1999 was an excellent 12 months to be a youngster on the motion pictures. Along with “10 Issues I Hate About You,” that 12 months introduced us “By no means Been Kissed,” one other comedic dissection of the sexual politics of highschool college students. Drew Barrymore stars as Josie Gellar, a virginal twentysomething reporter who’s ordered to return to highschool to report on what youngsters are like nowadays. She was a nerd, however she’s decided to reinvent herself as a well-liked woman this time round. Not less than, she’s determined to not let the youngsters discover out bullies used to name her “Josie Grossie.”

“By no means Been Kissed” is not instantly based mostly on something, however there are nonetheless quite a few Shakespearean allusions. In any case, The Bard beloved mistaken-identity tales and wrote quite a few performs the place individuals went undercover. This movie is an over-the-top, foolish expertise, however because of Barrymore’s dedicated, lovable efficiency, it is finally a candy movie that is each hilarious and heartwarming. On the peak of her powers, nobody did this type of romcom higher than Barrymore; we as a tradition misplaced one thing when she retreated to daytime tv.

Nice as she is, Barrymore is helped alongside by a strong supporting solid, too. David Arquette (who was once on track to resurrect Bozo the Clown) performs her brother, a cool man who additionally winds up re-enrolling in school to spice up her reputation. You will additionally spot Jessica Alba as a well-liked woman, John C. Reilly as Josie’s editor, James Franco as one of many college students, and even Octavia Spencer as a fellow newspaper worker.

This can be controversial, however for my cash, one of the best of all of the teenage Shakespeare diversifications is the 2006 movie “She’s the Man.” Primarily based on Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Evening,” the movie follows a spunky woman named Viola (Amanda Bynes) who takes her soccer-playing brother Sebastian’s place at boarding college. Sadly, for her romantic prospects, Viola-as-Sebastian falls in love along with his hunky roommate Duke Orsino (Channing Tatum). Shenanigans, after all, ensue.

There are many basic comedies the place males go undercover as girls. Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis did it in “Some Like It Hot,” for instance, and the Wayans Brothers did it in “White Chicks.” Much less frequent are movies the place girls go undercover as males, however Bynes finds simply as many laughs on this materials as these males did in theirs. She’s probably the most gifted comic of her technology, and it is all on full show in “She’s The Man” — from her bodily pratfalls to her wide-eyed, sudden line readings, Bynes is a force of nature you possibly can’t look away from.

The film can also be queer-positive in a method that feels quietly radical for one thing made within the aughts, which had been peak “no homo” years. Duke and Viola absolutely fall in love whereas he thinks she’s a person, and whereas it’s performed for laughs, they’re loving laughs that go away open the chance that Duke’s simply gonna have to present in and go for it. If solely!

Italian director Franco Zeffirelli helmed a number of Shakespearean diversifications, together with the 1968 model of “Romeo and Juliet” that you just would possibly’ve watched in English class and the 1990 model of “Hamlet” that starred Mel Gibson and Glenn Shut. These are each good movies, however the most-fun of his diversifications is “The Taming of the Shrew,” a 1967 movie starring real-life Hollywood energy couple Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Taylor performs Kate — the Julia Stiles half from “10 Issues I Hate About You” — whereas Burton interprets Petruchio, whom Heath Ledger delivered to life as Patrick. For those who’re seeking to see how the unique play was carried out with out, you realize, seeing the play, then this model of “The Taming of the Shrew” is one of the best you are able to do.

Few individuals have ever been extra well-known than Taylor, so it is easy to put in writing her off as all star energy and little expertise. The factor about Taylor, although, is that along with being one of the crucial compelling tabloid fixtures Hollywood has ever seen, she was also a tremendous actor. Her Kate is wild and unpredictable, a charming whirlwind of a lady that makes Petruchio wish to know her extra the extra she pushes him away. Burton, one of many silver display screen’s biggest thespians, matches her scene for scene; in spite of everything, at this level that they had already starred collectively in a number of movies, together with the earlier 12 months’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” Few real-life {couples} have ever been as engrossing on display screen.

We will not talk about heartthrob-forward Nineties diversifications of Shakespeare with out mentioning Baz Luhrmann’s brilliant, batty “Romeo + Juliet.” The movie paired a pre-“Titanic” Leonardo DiCaprio with a post-“My So-Known as Life” Claire Danes, making film magic out of the basic story of star-crossed lovers. With over-the-top, eye-popping visuals and a soundtrack filled with chat hits like The Cardigans’ “Lovefool” and Rubbish’s “#1 Crush,” “Romeo + Juliet” influenced an entire technology of popular culture. 

the story: Romeo (DiCaprio) and Juliet (Danes) are youngsters from rival households, and so they embark on a doomed relationship in opposition to the needs of their dad and mom. The story explodes into swoon-worthy romance and heart-stopping violence, helped alongside on this adaptation by transposing the story to modern-day California whereas retaining the iambic pentameter largely intact. Swords are traded for weapons, making the unique play’s rivalry into one thing extra like gang warfare; it is all an try and collapse time, a lot as Luhrmann later used hip-hop to face in for jazz in his model of “The Nice Gatsby.”

That is the film for anybody who thinks Shakespeare is boring. You may’t be bored watching individuals like Paul Rudd, Harold Perrineau, Jesse Bradford, and John Leguizamo act out this materials with all the thrill and verve of the best-looking music video you’ve got ever seen. Shakespeare is timeless, people! Additionally, for the file, the “Romeo + Juliet” set was full of as much drama as the film!

For those who’ve loved “10 Issues I Hate About You” and want to perceive the Julia Stiles phenomenon, then you must take a look at “Save The Final Dance,” from 2001. The film often goes viral on-line for the clunky, embarrassing audition dance that kinds the climax of the movie – Stiles even recreated it on “Saturday Night Live” – however the film as an entire is best than that oft-mocked clip suggests. Although her dancing abilities go away a lot to be desired — particularly for a film about dance — Stiles is nonetheless a compelling lead.

Within the Nineties and 2000s, we beloved making motion pictures the place white individuals be taught in regards to the energy of hip-hop dancing. A number of years earlier than “Step Up,” there was “Save The Final Dance,” a movie a couple of ballet dancer named Sara (Stiles) who provides up dancing till she meets Derek (Sean Patrick Thomas). He teaches her to mix hip-hop along with her ballet, and on the identical time, she helps him research drugs in hopes of constructing it out of his harmful neighborhood.

The film’s race relations are somewhat unwieldy, somewhat cliché, however they’re moderately well-intentioned. If nothing else, watching this and “O” collectively could be an intriguing case research in how Stiles was constructed, for a time, as an avatar of a sure type of white womanhood. “Save the Final Dance” additionally boasts an incredible efficiency from Bianca Lawson and an early one from Kerry Washington, so it is value looking ahead to that purpose alone.

Comply with me right here: “10 Issues I Hate About You” star Julia Stiles went on to star in “O” with Josh Hartnett. A number of months after that film was launched, Hartnett led the solid of “40 Days and 40 Nights,” a intercourse comedy with a tone nearer to “10 Issues” than it’s to “O.” In any case, this one includes a guess, too. Hartnett performs a intercourse addict named Matt, the type of man who goes from woman to woman, night time after night time, with out a care on the earth. After some efficiency points attributable to the truth that he is nonetheless in love with an ex, Matt swears he will quit intercourse for Lent. If he can do it, he’ll be going with out bodily intimacy — together with self-gratification — for the titular 40 days and 40 nights. His coworkers, together with his roommate, begin a betting pool, satisfied he will not be capable to full his vow.

In fact, the newly-celibate Matt shortly meets a cute woman named Erica (Shannyn Sossamon, who was in “A Knight’s Story” with “10 Issues” star Heath Ledger … it is all linked!). As they fall for each other, he has to determine how one can delay having intercourse along with her, determined to show he is in a position to abstain in order that his coworkers do not win their bets in opposition to him.

If it had been made at present, this film would possible be referred to as “problematic.” It actually is, however that is additionally what makes it such a enjoyable time capsule.

In “10 Issues I Hate About You,” Gabrielle Union performs Chastity, one of the best good friend of Bianca (Larisa Oleynik). She’d simply been in “She’s All That” just a few months earlier, however “10 Issues” was filmed first, as she revealed on X, formerly Twitter, in 2024. “The first movie I ever labored on. Such an incredible expertise with one of the best solid,” she wrote with a purple coronary heart emoji. “Cannot consider it has been 25 years!”

By 2003, on the opposite facet of “Carry It On,” Union was a full-fledged star. That 12 months, she led the solid of “Ship Us From Eva,” her second adaptation of “The Taming of the Shrew.” This time, she performed the Kat function, right here named Eva. (It is a free adaptation.) Eva is an annoyingly-smug profession girl who bothers the boys who’re relationship her buddies; she’s so annoying that they take into account Eva to be full-on evil. “Eva’s sister gave her a cross with Jesus on it for her birthday,” one says. “The subsequent day, Jesus was gone!” In an effort to get her out of their hair, they pay a playboy named Ray (LL Cool J) so far her, hoping he’ll be capable to soften her up. Do you assume they fall in love?

Very like “10 Issues” set the story at a highschool, “Ship Us From Eva” crops these archetypes firmly within the Black group. In different phrases, it is an incredible instance of the adaptability and malleability of Shakespeare.