A Knight’s Tale

MPAA Rated – PG-13
It’s 1:42 Long
A Review by:
The Dude on the Right

A Knight’s Tale
Movie Stats & Links
Starring: Heath Ledger, Mark Addy, Rufus Sewell, Paul Bettany, Shannyn Sossamon, Alan Tudyk
MPAA Rated: PG-13
Released By: Columbia Pictures
Kiddie Movie: It’s cute but the jousting is a little violent.
Date Movie: She might find Heath dreamy.
Gratuitous Sex: A scene with some perky nipples.
Gratuitous Violence: The jousting gets pretty good.
Action: Just the fighting scenes.
Laughs: Chuckles here and there and the speeches by Chaucer are usually pretty funny.
Memorable Scene: Nothing really.
Memorable Quote: Nah.
Directed By: Brian Helgeland
Produced By: Todd Black, Tim Van Rellim

Leaving the theater, a couple of girls in their early teens were in front of me. Their simple comments: “That movie was great.” “He was soooo cute.” And those comments really sum up “A Knight’s Tale.” Don’t get me wrong, I did like the movie, even with things that had no place being in the movie, but it was a cute film, had some nice action, a story that you could figure out from a mile away, and I laughed a couple of times. So, let’s get to the story.

William (Heath Ledger) grew up on the wrong side of the tracks, or at least on the wrong side of town. It’s the medieval times and he wants to compete in the jousting and sword tournaments. Bad news for him – he’s not a man with a royal family line. Then, as the story would have it, his master, a jouster, dies. Seeing his chance to change his fate he dons the old man’s armor, nearly gets his head taken off in the joust, but still wins. William decides that he can compete, his companions, Roland (Mark Addy) and Wat (Alan Tudyk), aren’t so sure but go along for the ride, and they run into Jeffrey Chaucer (Paul Bettany), naked as a jaybird, who can forge some papers saying William is of royal lineage.

Well, William starts to compete, keeps winning, mostly because his best competition is off fighting a war, and falls in love with Jocelyn (Shannyn Sossamon). The climactic finish comes at the jousting championships in London where William is exposed as a fraud, his past coming to haunt him yet his fights coming back to save him, and all’s well that ends well.

Most things in this movie are of the normal cookie-cutter variety. You’ve got the love story which you know how it will end; You’ve got the tournament side which you know how it will end; and You’ve got the foreshadowing point which you know will save our hero. Mix into all of that a rock soundtrack that seems strangely out of place yet still works and well, you get “A Knight’s Tale.”

In the end “A Knight’s Tale” was stupid yet cute, and if it wasn’t for the humorous orations of Jeffrey Chaucer, well, “A Knight’s Tale” would have fallen flat on its face. If you’re looking for an intriguing story, suspenseful action, and a movie that makes you think, well, “A Knight’s Tale” won’t be for you. But, if you just want to see a generic movie with some action, a nice love story, and some humorous ramblings, well, you’ll probably like it.

I’m giving “A Knight’s Tale” 3 ½ stars out of 5 because it is exactly what you would expect it to be.

That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!