SNOOZING VIEWER 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU: Romantic comedy. Starring Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger. Directed by Gil Junger. (PG-13. 98 minutes.)

The movie "10 Things I Hate About You" is a teen-romance version of Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew." Here are two ways it could have worked: 1) They could have thrown caution to the wind and told the story as Shakespeare told it, with the boy smacking the girl upside the head every other scene. Everyone would have been offended, but such is the life of the artist.

2) They could have reversed the sexes. No one minds girls smacking boys upside the head, and it might have been fun.

But no, the movie wimped out by blanding down the story and the characters to the point where she isn't really a shrew and he isn't really a maniac. They're regular people.

Julia Stiles is Kat, the school pariah. She's smart-mouthed and nasty -- since when is that an impediment to high school success? Her younger sister, Bianca (Larisa Oleynik), is popular, but their father won't let Bianca date until Kat is dating. That prompts two of Bianca's would-be boyfriends to find a guy for Kat.

Heath Ledger plays Patrick (as in Petruchio), who is hired to romance Kat. Ledger and Stiles make the most of their scenes together, but there's really nothing for them to do except be smirky, bright and attractive.