A Knight's Tale

Starring: Heath Ledger, Rufus Sewell, Shannyn Sossamon, Paul Bettany, Laura Fraser, Mark Addy, Alan Tudyk
Directed by: Brian Helgeland
Rating: An Adam Favorite

This is one of my favorite movies.  It's strange in a few different ways, with most of it's irregularities springing from the fact that this is a medieval film targeted at a young audience.  It's not nearly the drama that "First Knight" or "King Arthur" either one are, but it's not nearly the fiasco that "A Kid in King Arthur's Court" turned out to be.

It definitely plays with the boundaries of accuracy...well, let's not lie about it: the movie completely ignores historical accuracy in a lot of areas.  However, if you sit down to watch it for what it is, that shouldn't matter. This is just a fun movie with plenty of laughs.  It's not a historical drama.  It does remind me a bit of what Kevin Costner tried to do with the Robin Hood story and failed miserably.  This film is a good time all around.

The Good:

• Queen's music is always good, and there's plenty of it in this movie.  It feels just about as cheesy as when it was used in the Mighty Ducks films, but it's still fun.  
• This was my first time seeing Bettany in a role, and I've been a big fan of his ever since, all the way up to him being the voice of Jarvis in the Avengers and Iron Man films.  I even forgive him accepting a role in a movie like Priest, because his performance was still pretty good, and he doesn't get offered the roles that he should get offered.  
• Additionally in the area of casting,  Tudyk is great in everything.  Most notably, he was one of the stars of the far too short-lived, Joss Whedon "Firefly" series, but even his smaller roles, like his performance in Transformers: Dark of the Moon are great.  One of his more shining moments was in the original, British version of Death at a Funeral.   He does a great job taking on different roles, too.  It wasn't until writing this that I realized he was in 3:10 to Yuma, mainly because he just took on that character that was so different from his other performances.  
• By far, Addy is the most underrated member of the cast.  A great character actor, he doesn't have the fame he deserves.  
• The story is a great one, and I love how it winds up in the end.  Yes, it's the happy ending that everyone knows is probably coming, but it's still a good one.  
• The humor is spread through this very nicely.  There are lots of quips between characters that will elicit chuckles, and there are slapstick moments that bring on full giggle fits.  
• All of the writing for Chaucer's (Bettany's) introductions of Ulrich (Ledger) are classic.  Particularly, the first introduction he offers of the knight is hilarious.  
• Everyone always loves the underdog story, and that's exactly what we see here for William/Ulrich (Ledger).  Everything just kind of happens to turn out just right for him, though, it is a hard road.   

The Bad: 

• I think for the love interest, there were much better choices than Sassamon.  She's pretty in her own way, and she didn't do a bad job with the part.  I just don't care for her personally.  
• The movie was full of cheesy moments, especially since they tried to blend old school and new school.  

The Ugly: 

• If you watch this movie for what it is, there aren't any really ugly moments.  If you grade it against the Oscar list, there will be all kinds.  Just watch it for fun, and let it go.