A Knight's Tale (2001)

Director: Brian Helgeland
Starring: Heath Ledger, Mark Addy, Rufus Sewell

Synopsis:
A squire of humble origins poses as a knight to compete in tournaments, spurring a rivalry with a ruthless nobleman.

Impressions:
At its core, this would be a decent if fairly standard medieval tale. What makes it stand out is its gleeful embrace of anachronism to portray jousting much as a modern sport. If you're on board for this, you should be able to have fun with it. The whole cast delivers nicely. Heath Ledger is appealing as the hero, Rufus Sewell makes a perfect villain, and William's crew (Paul Bettany, Alan Tudyk, Mark Addy and Laura Fraser) are all really entertaining. The sets and costuming are good, and they make a good spectacle of the tilting. Not everyone goes for the romance, but it's alright, I guess. Plays into the courtly tradition in some aspects. It's a very entertaining film and I highly recommend it.

Rating:
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