R E V I E W S
Knight's Tale, A (2001)
Starring: Heath Ledger, Rufus Sewell, Mark Addy, Laura Fraser, Paul Bettany Studio: Columbia Review Posted: 5.8.01 Rating: 3/4
By Sara M. Fetters.
"The Real Deal In Summer Heroics"
There
are times when you can be completely blindsided by a movie.
Usually when that happens it’s not in a good way.
How nice then to discover one of the most refreshing and
exuberantly entertaining films of the young summer season to
come in a package that - at first glance - was hardly promising.
A
Knight's Tale is the story of young, penniless William
Thatcher (Heath Ledger) who's the squire to renowned knight and
tournament joust legend Sir Ector.
Assisting Thatcher in his care and training of this
knight are the chubby and sarcastic Roland (Mark Addy of The
Full Monty) and the incoherent – and unstable – Wat
(Alan Tudyk, most recently showing off his "package"
in 28 Days). Unfortunately for this charismatic trio, the
over-the-hill Ector has taken one too many jousts to the head
leaving the three men knight-less and penniless.
Because
his liege is on the verge of winning his first tournament in an
eternity, Thatcher decides to impersonate his master, take a few
hits, win the tournament and fill his and his friend's stomachs
with the winnings. In
doing so, Thatcher is not so much struck by the tip of a joust
as by inspiration: why not continue the impersonation and travel
from tournament to tournament full time?
The catch – only nobles can be knights and young
Thatcher is the son of a London peasant.
By
all accounts, this film should not work.
It is simplistic and follows the basic Rocky
paint-by-numbers school of plot progression.
The villain (a gloriously vain, pompous and charismatic
Rufus Sewell) is underdeveloped, the heroine (Shannyn Sossman
seemingly cast for her resemblance to Angelina Jolie) seems more
suited for the 21st century than the 13th, and the whole package
gets wrapped up so neatly you’d think Santa Claus was tying
the bow himself.
Yet,
this film undeniably rocks. Recent testosterone fests such as The
Mummy Returns and Driven
are pretenders to what is this knight’s throne. A Knight's Tale is fast, furious entertainment that remembers to
not overstay its welcome and treats its audience with
intelligence. It’s as
if writer/director Brian Helgeland, the writer of L.A.
Confidential, realized audiences do have attention spans of
longer than three seconds and are willing to put up with little
things like plot and character development. He’s constructed a smart, literate (Geoffrey Chaucer is a main
character), funny, audacious and highly original piece of pure
entertainment that’s more Princess Bride than Gladiator,
and the film is all the better for it.
All in all, A Knight's Tale is a swell couple of hours. In a so-far lackluster year, it's the real-deal in summer heroics and is a great kickoff to a promise-filled summer season.
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