A Knight's Tale (From Stroud News and Journal)

That said, with the former there is always the morbid fascination of seeing one of the opponents become unseated this is bound to alleviate the boredom somewhat.

However a whole film based on the thrills of jousting, as is the case with A Knight's Tale might be overdoing it.

I was relieved to see the director and Oscar winning screenwriter was Brian Helgeland he wrote with Curtis Hanson such a blistering good script for LA Confidential because there is no doubt a lot of imagination will be needed to liven up this theme.

We are in France in the 14th century.

Things are looking pretty bleak for William Thatcher (Heath Ledger), abandoned son of John Thatcher, (Christopher Cazenove) the thatcher.

William's master Sir Ector has just died between rounds of a vital jousting tournament.

If Sir Ector doesn't win they could be eating rat for weeks.

So quick as a wink William dons his deceased Knight's armour and wins the contest.

Surprised at how easily his deception worked William convinces his serf chums Roland and Wat (Mark Addy and Alan Tudyk) that he can become a champion jouster.

Secrecy is essential as jousting is a sport restricted to the nobility.

As fortune would have it they meet gambler and scribe Geoffrey Chaucer (Paul Bettany), long before he writes The Canterbury Tales, who agrees to forge documents to legitimise Williams noble birth.

So under the grand name of Sir Ulric of Liechtenstein William embarks on his jousting career.

One of his admirers is Lady Jocelyn (Shannyn Sossamon) whose suitor is the wicked Count Adhemar (Rufus Sewell).

Captivated by Jocelyn, can William win her heart and the World Championship set in London or will the dastardly Count scupper his plans?

This film is an anachronistic tale.

Medieval meets Rock'n'Roll is the idea.

We have jousting set to Queens We Will Rock You plus the Mexican wave for starters.

William and Lady Jocelyn dance to David Bowies Golden Years.

There is a female Smithy touch of equality here called Kate (Laura Fraser) who stamps her armour with a Nike logo in the hope of attracting trade.

Other contemporary touches like fast food sellers and football sing songs are threaded throughout.

In many ways this is all rather jolly, however anything that is constantly out of sync is bound to jar at times, which A Knight's Tale certainly does.

I do hope anachronistic films arent going to catch on. Ledger (The Patriot) fills the role of hero in the looks department, but his acting ability has yet to impress me.

The shining light in A Knight's Tale is Bettany's wayward Chaucer.

He spends a lot of the film starkers and is absolutely priceless.

I am mystified why Lady Jocelyn is modelled on Kate Moss, and has a variety of dead animals as headdresses. Maybe this is meant to be another modern touch.

Helgeland gets full marks for imagination, but his direction is not very consistent and surprisingly he has made the simple plot rather laborious.

The fact is this is not a great film, however for all its jarring inaccuracies it is only a tale and there is a charm and a nostalgic air about it.

This gives it a good all round appeal, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Clare Shepherd

7/10