Movie Review: A Knight's Tale (2001)

Heath Ledger, Rufus Sewell, Shannyn Sossamon, Laura Fraser and Paul Bettany star in this movie.

I’ve seen quite a few Heath Ledger movies and most of them are pretty decent. This one, however, remains my favorite.

The thing I like about this movie is it manages to turn a medieval knight movie into a modern-day sports story (which, ironically, I’m not usually a fan of). It’s somewhat unique, has a story that is easy to follow and the various knights can easily be compared to modern sports athletes. Yes, there are also stories about injustice and inequities between the classes. But, the sports concept is what really makes this movie memorable in my opinion.

The music in this movie is also something that always stands out for me. I love the way the writers use easily-to-recognize songs but puts a medieval twist on them. Those help break up some of the slower scenes and keep the movie upbeat when it could otherwise end up being much more serious than it needs to be.

The love story between Ledger’s character, William, and the noblewoman (Sossamon) is an interesting one. At first, I thought it was an unnecessary distraction. However, the thing I found I liked about this part of the movie is how she creates a contrast for him. Being successful as a knight meant being fearless and even arrogant. Yet, to win her heart, he had to taper that back and be humble too. And, in a way, by doing that, she helped him be better than the nobility he was trying to prove himself against.

My only real complaint about this movie would be about William’s main rival, Count Adhemar (Sewell). His character, as is often the case with sports movie, lacked any real depth. He was simply a bad guy who could joust and I really think the movie could have taken him to a whole new level if the writers would have taken the time to give him a better back story or, at very least, made him a little more human by showing some sort of compassionate side to him. As a result of the lack of effort, he honestly wasn’t that much of an upgrade over any other knight he faced. It also made the ending somewhat predictable because, he was so evil, it was pretty obvious who was going to win.

Overall, I think this is a good movie and, as I said before, it’s my favorite Ledger film. However, mostly because the villain lacks depth, the movie also doesn’t quite reach its full potential.

My Grade: B