 A
Knight's Tale (2001)
Our rating: 3 out of 5
Rated: PG13
reviewed by
Charity Bishop
To every story, there is an ending, and in every play there is an oddball. With
every comedy, all elements of humor are combined to create such great satires.
This is what A Knight's Tale strives to become, and if you have a good
sense of humor, within five minutes of the opening scene, you will be roaring
with laughter. William Thatcher (Heath Ledger) is a young squire with ambitions
toward knighthood. There's only one thing that stands in his way: you must be of
noble blood to be a knight. But when opportunity knocks (or rather, his knight
master bites the dust), open the door.
While his friends Wat and Roland dream only of the good life, William longs for
more, and the idea of playing a game of charades is greatly ap pealing. Convinced
he is as capable as any man of "noble blood," William decides to take on another
identity, that of Ulrich von Liechtenstein, knight and nobleman. Along the way
he meets up with a quirky scribe (Paul Bettany) with a gambling addiction, who
loves the idea and passes him off some forged paperwork to convince the nobility
of his bloodlines. After some intense training, William goes off to fight, and
turns out to be reasonably good at it. (After being trounced, whacked, nearly
drowned, etc., a dozen times in training.)
Another loop is thrown into the
works when William meets and is enthralled with Jocelyn (Shannon Sossoman), a
porcelain-skinned, dark haired beauty. Unfortunately, the evil black knight
Count Adhemar (Rufus Sewell) is also in love with the fair princess... and will
eventually be the knight against whom William is pitted in the final battle.
What follows is a charming, wacky, and overall unique blend of
humor, knighthood, honor, and romance that hasn't been
seen in a long time. This is a different variation of the story
with some humorous spots, yes, but also a few problems. There's
none of the blended dull strings here, or even the "medieval
disco" of Ladyhawke; instead, we're blasted with
modern-day rock. You know it is going to be a fun film when "We
will rock you!" has the audience in the jousting stands stomping
their feet and shouting. Its messages are ultimately good ones
and for the most part the content is tame, but does contain a
couple of things that might disconcert parents. William is given
hope by his father that with hard work, he can change his fate
and become what he dreams of. When faced with the truth, he
refuses to run away, taking a valiant stand against it that can
be summed up in one word: honor.
God is mentioned a few times in the proper sense, and we are given a glimpse of
a missionary preaching along the side of the road; but a slight reference also
alludes to the "guidance of the stars." Excellent lessons of compassion and
honesty are praised here, but are overshadowed by some minor cravats that make
family viewing rocky. Chaucer is a man who likes to gamble, and in doing so,
often looses his shirt... and his pants... and his shoes. We're given a couple
of glimpses of his full bare backside in two scenes (in one of them, he sits
down on the roadside and so we see most of his naked side). Some mild sexual
innuendo, a few lines about women's breasts, and implied premarital sex make up
pretty much the rest of the film's objectionable content.
Jocelyn slips into
William's tent, climbs onto his bed, and they kiss passionately. He is badly
injured at the time but that may or may not have prevented a consummation of
their love.
Language and
violence are surprisingly low for a film of this gender, with one or two mild
abuses of deity and one use of "son of a ..." The violence is present but
overall bloodless, and the dialogue witty and intelligent. It's not the most
hilarious film I have ever seen, but it is one of the most enjoyable!
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