 Movie
Reviews
with Evelyn Gough.
A Knight's Tale (M)
Directed by Brian Helgeland
 Russell Crowe eat your heart out. Rookie squire William Thatcher (Heath Ledger) faces the ultimate test of gallantry - jousting to Freddie Mercury.
Braveheart, Gladiator, Elizabeth... If you love films which transport you to a period in history long gone by truly capturing the spirit of that time, no matter how cruel, then you probably won't appreciate A Knight's Tale.
There is no way you can take a film, supposedly set in the 14th century, seriously when all the cast members start singing and dancing along to Queen's 'We Will Rock You'. And then proceed to do the Mexican Wave - while watching a jousting tournament in Medieval Europe! All it's missing is Ray 'Rabbits' Warren calling the joust.
The point is, this film should not be taken seriously. To really enjoy A Knight's Tale you must suspend all disbelief and just go with it. Embrace writer/director Brian Helgeland's (of LA Confidential fame) rather unusual concept and accept it for what it is - pure entertainment and not a history lesson.
With his knight and master killed in a jousting accident, lowly-born William Thatcher (Heath Ledger) has the bright idea of taking the dead man's place, much to the consternation of his fellow servants and best friends Roland (The Full Monty's Mark Addy) and Wat (Alan Tudyk). To impersonate a Knight is a grievous crime and it takes a lot of sweet talking by Will before he can convince them to go along with his scheme and act as his squires.
Luckily for the three they bump into Geoffrey Chaucer (Paul Bettany). That's right - the Cantebury Tales writer. And it turns out he's also a pretty decent forger which is just as well as each Knight must present papers proving his lineage.
So it's goodbye William Thatcher, hello Ulrich von Lichtenstein, ready to take on the world of jousting and in the process win the heart of the fair maid Jocelyn (Shannyn Sossamon).
And remember what I said about suspending disbelief - have a gander at what the fair maid is wearing. Nuff said.
Although this film is definitely targeted at a teen audience, don't write it off just because of that. It really is a lot of fun and Richard Greatrex's cinematography is superb.
Rating: 3 stars
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