One of the most prevalent of rom-com tropes is the random, unmotivated musical number. The “Say A Little Prayer” sequence in My Best Friend’s Wedding. The drunken karaoke in 27 Dresses. The elaborately choreographed dance routines in Something Borrowed, 13 Going On 30, and She’s All That. But when it comes time for 10 Things I Hate About You to deliver its own take on the convention, it puts a little more thought into it. Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger) has thoroughly embarrassed Kat Stratford (Julia Stiles) on their first date by awkwardly turning down her attempt to kiss him. She’s pissed. His young romantic allies advise him that the only way to get back into her good graces is to “sacrifice himself on the altar of dignity to even the score.”
Read the whole thing at AV Club
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