A Knight's Tale (2001)
Directed by Brian Helgeland
William Thatcher, a knight's peasant apprentice, gets a chance at glory when the knight dies suddenly mid-tournament. Posing as a knight himself, William won't stop until he's crowned tournament champion—assuming matters of the heart don't get in the way.
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13 films that influenced A Knight's Tale
What critics say influenced A Knight's Tale
It doesn't have the depth of "Gladiator" or the charm of "The Princess Bride."
You can just hear the post-modern pitch that director/writer/producer Brian Helgeland, an Oscar winner for his script for L.A. Confidential, made to the studio heads: We'll put one of those hunky Aussie imports in armor, just like Russell Crowe in Gladiator but younger.
By that time in the movie, I didnt care: I had seen enough of the low-rent Gladiator rip-off sets; I had seen enough of Heath Ledger trying to be earnest.
So the story is thin and unoriginal, more or less a smaller-scale version of 2000's "Gladiator," and there isn't a whole lot to ponder when it's over.
Hoping to replicate the success of "Gladiator," but in a lighter vein, Brian Helgeland's "A Knight's Tale" has its bright moments but it never coheres into a viable--or memorable--movie.
Much of the commercial success of "Gladiator" is due to a series of commercials that cleverly compared Russell Crowe's battles in the arena to contemporary pro wrestling and football.
I mean, remember "Ladyhawke," that silly Matthew Broderick medieval fantasy with the laughably inappropriate and oh-so-'80s synthesizer soundtrack?
A need for armor repair on account over currency adds female blacksmith Kate (Laura Fraser, "Titus") to William's entourage.
Period and contemporary mixtures of speech and behavior are also given to the characters played by Mark Addy ("Down to Earth," "The Full Monty") and Alan Tudyk ("28 Days," "Wonder Boys") as the comic relief squires, Laura Fraser ("Titus," "Cousin Bette") as a liberated female blacksmith, and Shannyn Sossamon (who makes her feature film debut) as the obligatory fair maiden.
Lending adequate support are Mark Addy (1997's "The Full Monty") and Alan Tudyk (2000's "28 Days"), as William's lovable sidekicks; Paul Bettany (1998's "The Land Girls"), very funny as writer Geoffrey Chaucer, who becomes William's spokesperson; Laura Fraser (1999's "Titus"), as a canny, resourceful peasant girl who befriends William; and Rufus Sewell (1998's "Dark City") as the token bad guy, and William's competing nemesis.
There's nothing in "A Knight's Tale" that revs you up the way a rock 'n' roll movie sequence should -- that does the kind of thing that, say, Iain Softley did so wonderfully in "Backbeat," or haphazard genius Baz Luhrman carried off in his messy, mesmerizing "William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet."
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Mark Addy ("The Full Monty") is solid as the serious-minded best friend, Roland.
Lending adequate support are Mark Addy (1997's "The Full Monty") and Alan Tudyk (2000's "28 Days"), as William's lovable sidekicks; Paul Bettany (1998's "The Land Girls"), very funny as writer Geoffrey Chaucer, who becomes William's spokesperson; Laura Fraser (1999's "Titus"), as a canny, resourceful peasant girl who befriends William; and Rufus Sewell (1998's "Dark City") as the token bad guy, and William's competing nemesis.
As with "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," the intentionally anachronistic speeches and tunes are balanced by reasonably realistic visuals.
Combining the heart of Rocky, the courage of Gladiator , and the fun of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, this action-adventure grabbed me with its opening scene of a medieval crowd clapping to Queen’s “We Will Rock You” and held me in its clutches until the closing credits.
This is no Monty Python and the Holy Grail, played for irreverent laughs.
Somewhere between Robert Bresson�s Lancelot du Lac and Monty Python and the Holy Grail lies Brian Helgeland�s A Knight�s Tale � too bad it�s as funny as the former and as poetic as the latter.
Lending adequate support are Mark Addy (1997's "The Full Monty") and Alan Tudyk (2000's "28 Days"), as William's lovable sidekicks; Paul Bettany (1998's "The Land Girls"), very funny as writer Geoffrey Chaucer, who becomes William's spokesperson; Laura Fraser (1999's "Titus"), as a canny, resourceful peasant girl who befriends William; and Rufus Sewell (1998's "Dark City") as the token bad guy, and William's competing nemesis.
Even worse, what might have been a tolerable 90-minute Monty Python comedy is so filled with heavy-handed, even maudlin, drama that it drags out for two hours and 12 minutes that feel like "Lawrence of Arabia" run in reverse.
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It doesn't have the depth of "Gladiator" or the charm of "The Princess Bride."
Although not a traditional spoof and clearly not as irreverently hilarious as the period comedies the Monty Python troupe once delivered or as charming or intelligent as "The Princess Bride," the film does have something of an infectiously goofy feel to it.
A Knight’s Tale is the kind of silly feel-good popcorn movie, like Independence Day or the 1999 The Mummy, that film critics generally enjoy ripping apart, and mainstream audiences generally just enjoy.