A Knight's Tale

Prince Edward: Your men love you. If I knew nothing else about you, that would be enough. But you also tilt when you should withdraw and that is knightly too.

I have to start this with the fact that I'm a little biased toward this movie. I've seen it so many times I can recite the dialogue along with the characters. And I will be completely honest in saying that this is in no way a great film that will change the way you see the world and I love everything about. For those fooled by the title and a character named Chaucer, you should know that this movie is as distantly related to The Canterbury Tales as I am to its author. It makes almost no attempt to be realistic for the time and place it's set. In fact, this medieval England story is as American as apple pie. It follows a peasant born squire who tries to "change his stars" after his master dies by enlisting in jousts as a noble born knight.

The two things that really make A Knight's Tale work is its great cast and its confidence. It tells a simple story that doesn't get distracted and try to come off bigger than it is, but it tells it well, free with jokes but never so self-conscious that it makes its audience feel ridiculous for liking it. And what's not to like? After all, this is the movie that made me fall in love with Heath Ledger as our plucky young hero, Alan Tudyk as his loyal and lovable sidekick and Paul Bettany as the irreverent and no doubt completely inaccurate Chaucer. Along with them are Rufus Sewell as the villain we love to hate, Shannyn Sossamon, James Purefoy, Mark Addy and Laura Fraser. Not only are they talented actors but they have great chemistry thanks to writer/director Brian Helgeland. There is an ease about their conversation that makes it feel they really have been working and traveling together in poverty and hope.

One of the things the film is most famous for is its anachronistic music but anyone who was upset by the music clearly wasn't paying enough attention to the anachronistic plot. The idea that an uneducated, untrained peasant could ever pass himself off as a knight among other knights for any length of time is as laughable as the fact that his noble born love interest, Jocelyn, spends all her time wandering around virile young men unchaperoned and apparently has some say in who she will marry. But the music, like everything else, isn't meant to convey historical realism. It's meant to show you what people felt like when they watched these tournaments and competed for a lady's token. It's about the timelessness of the human experience, the jokes shared with friends, the struggle to reach for more than you're given, the joy of victory and misery of defeat.

So if you need a break from Oscar season or just a feel good movie for a rainy day, check out A Knight's Tale. It's a light hearted adventure that will have you laughing, cheering and believing that you too can change your stars.