131. A Knight's Tale (2001)

Leonard Maltin's Rating : 
Should be : 


IMDB Rating : 6.9

Rotten Tomatoes Rating : 79% with Audience, 58% with the Critics

In his review Leonard says: "If it had completely over the top it might be fun, but writer-director Helgeland wants us to care about his characters and story - while undermining them at every turn."

There are quite a few critics who didn't really like this film which breaks out of it's narrative structure to play rock songs and have modern dances.

The story is about a servant, played by Heath Ledger, who pretends to be a knight, even though he doesn't have the pedigree. He also has the audacity to date a noblewoman. 

Roger Ebert, in his 3 Star Review said:

"It is possible, I suppose, to object when the audience at a 15th century jousting match begins to sing Queen's "We Will Rock You" and follows it with the wave. I laughed. I smiled, in fact, all through Brian Helgeland's "A Knight's Tale," which tells the story of a low-born serf who impersonates a knight, becomes a jousting champion and dares to court the daughter of a nobleman."

The tone of the movie was  somewhere between The Princess Bride and Shakespeare in Love, two movies I also liked.

Not a movie everyone enjoyed but I think people should see it so they can make up their own mind. This is a movie that the audience liked much better than the critics.