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Before his transformative performance in Brokeback Mountain earned him an Oscar nomination, Heath Ledger was primarily known as the dreamboat Australian hunk with a perfect smile and soulful brown eyes. That image sure seems to work with the ladies. My wife still makes it a point to watch 10 Things I Hate About You or A Knight's Tale in full whenever she runs across them on cable, which tends to be at least once a month each. You'd think she might get sick of watching the same two movies over and over again, but no she really doesn't. When I made the mistake of mentioning that Knight's Tale would be released on the Blu-ray format, she insisted that I request a copy for review so that she could fawn over her pretty boy idol in High Definition.
Truth be told, Ledger has always been a good actor with natural leading-man charisma. Even when indulging the Hollywood studios intent on marketing him as a teen heartthrob, the actor chose some better than average starring vehicles. Both 10 Things and Knight's Tale are witty, breezy, light-hearted entertainment. Though I've seen the latter too many times to really appreciate its freshness anymore, it still remains enjoyable despite familiarity. That's a testament to both its stars and writer/director Brian Helgeland, who managed to bring a unique spin to the old sword & armor genre.
In A Knight's Tale, Ledger stars as William Thatcher, squire to a has-been knight we find dead in a ditch as the movie starts. Destitute and starving, William puts on his liege's armor and enters a jousting competition under false identity hoping to win a few pence and eat for the day. Miraculously surviving the event, he determines to train himself and, with the help of his reluctant but cunning friends, crafts the persona of Sir Ulrich von Lichtenstein of Gelderland, soon to be the toast of the festival circuit.
The movie's plot is pure fluff. The hero has to woo the pretty girl and win the big competition, his chances of doing either compromised when his true identity is discovered by a dastardly rival. You can predict every story machination in advance and know how it will end practically as soon as it starts. What makes the movie entertaining is its playfulness. Helgeland has loaded the film with likable characters and clever dialogue. The supporting cast (Mark Addy, Alan Tudyk, Rufus Sewell) are game, and Paul Bettany outright steals the movie as Geoffrey Chaucer (yes, the Chaucer who authored The Canterbury Tales), played as a hapless gambler who becomes Sir Ulrich's scribe (read: forger) and ringside announcer. Historical accuracy is far from anyone's mind here, you can tell. The movie mutilates history for a laugh and throws out a constant stream of amusing anachronisms: crowds at the festival games wear face paint like football fans and chant the lyrics to "We Will Rock You"; classic rock dominates the soundtrack, and a formal ball turns into a Saturday Night Fever dance-off.
Only his second film as director, Helgeland (screenwriter of L.A. Confidential and Mystic River) keeps things moving at a brisk pace, deftly balancing comedy and action. His tournament scenes showcase the sheer brutality of the jousting event, each slam of the lance almost painful to watch. A Knight's Tale is completely frivolous, lightweight entertainment, extremely silly but fun to watch (those who enjoy fart jokes are advised to stick around through the end credits). It could never be mistaken for art, but my wife will certainly testify that it holds up well to repeat viewings.
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