In fourteenth century Europe having the right ancestry means everything and William Thatcher does not have it. He is the peasant squire to a knight but when his master dies he sees an opportunity. He takes his place in a joust and with the prize money sets about passing as a nobleman. With his friends Roland and Wat he trains then sets off to the next tournament. Along the way they meet the writer Geoffrey Chaucer who helps them by creating a false lineage for a nobleman from an obscure place. William performs well and catches the eye of Jocelyn, a noblewoman, he isn't the only one interested in her though; the brutish Count Adhemar sees her as a prize. Soon Adhemar is sent away to war and William continues to win tournaments; the two things he really wants though are Jocelyn's love and to put Adhemar on his back. When he returns to his home city of London for the World Championships he may get his chance; as well as seeing his father for the first time in years… of course if the truth about who he really is were to emerge it would all be over.Anybody expecting gritty realism will be in for a bit of a disappointment; the opening in joust makes it quite clear that this will be a romp… the audience cheer on their champions to the accompany of Queen's 'We Will Rock You'; clapping along with the tune! The story might not be too original; there are plenty of films about an underdog working their way up from the bottom to get to the top and get the girl… setting the story in the world of medieval jousting is rather different though. The competitions are exciting enough even though there is no real doubt how they will end. There are plenty of laughs to be had along the way; mostly provided by Roland, Wat and Chaucer… when we first meet Chaucer he is walking along stark naked as though this is perfectly normal. The cast performed well with Heath Ledger putting in a solid performance as William and Rufus Sewell being suitably dastardly as Adhemar. Paul Bettany is on great form as Chaucer stealing almost every scene he is in. There are also impressive performances from Mark Addy, as Roland; Alan Tudyk, as Wat; Laura Fraser as Kate the Blacksmith; Shannyn Sossamon as Jocelyn and James Purefoy as the Black Prince. Overall I found this to be rather enjoyably; yes it is silly and anachronistic but that is intentional and part of what makes it enjoyable.

A Knight's Tale is a mediocre movie with a pretty poor storyline, despite an impressive and talented cast. It certainly has good moments, there are interesting jousting scenes and a great soundtrack, Heath Ledger also delivers a great performance, his characterisation is terrific, it's a pity he wasn't given a better film. The plot is very weak, it lingers on certain plot points, such as William and Jocelyn's relationship, his connection with his friends and long, boring jousting training sequences, it lacks any real depth or heart that you would want from these type of movies, a strong connection between characters. The villain is very weak, he never really feels like a bad guy, we're basically just expected to hate him because he's the lead characters competition, he's not necessarily portrayed as being unlikeable, he's just another jouster, I actually found myself feeling bad for him when the main character and his friends tease him at the end, because we are never given a reason to dislike this guy and to want to see him suffer. It certainly has some redeeming qualities, but A Knight's Tale is lacking in story and character development big time, for Ledger's sake its worth the watch, but certainly do not go out of your way to see it. A young man turns himself in to a knight and aspires to win a jousting competition. Best Performance: Heath Ledger

Before reading this review, you should know that I am only slightly biased - this has been my favorite movie since I watched it for the first time, and Heath Ledger is one of my absolute favorite actors.That being said: This movie makes me laugh, it makes me cry, and it is overall a great laid-back action movie. There is some fighting, some emotion, and unfortunately some lines that could have been delivered a bit more sincerely. But it doesn't matter, because Heath Ledger delivers. He is 100% there, all the time, completely in character and brilliant. Like always. The soundtrack is cleverly enough modern, to show how people of that time felt about their music. There aren't a lot of Middle-age movies where you see the main characters dance to David Bowie and Queen! All in all, this movie will always be very special for me, and I hope I'm not mistaken when I say that this will be a future classic. If you haven't seen it, it's worth it. And if you have seen it, it's worth watching again.

"A Knights Tale", directed confusingly by Brian Hedgeland is one of those movies that leaves you disappointed for what it could've been. It's very difficult for a movie to straddle comedy, drama, and action together and this movie ends falling flat trying to do so. Chiefly, what the heck was Hedgeland thinking throwing in anachronistic music cuts haphazardly. They litter the movie like foul garbage stinking up scene after scene, out of place and non- sensical. The cast does their best to bring in some heart and charisma, but the script is a mess, sometimes straight as an arrow, and other times pandering and sitcomish. The costuming, armor, and jousting steps in to remind us of the promise the movie has though, lead actress, apparently new-comer Sharynn Sossaman proves her lack of experience in a flat performance to counterbalance. Then there's Heath Ledger, kinetic and full of energy mostly keeping the movie afloat though his hair is out of control. I wanted to like this movie, but the music single-handedly sunk it for me - you have the credits not even rolling and AC/DC playing!? Common - it's supposed to be medieval, stick to the page or in this case period. 5.5/10 Cannot Recommend due to schizophrenia; needed to stick with one genre.