A Knight’s Tale

If I were trying to invent a truly stupid sport, it would look a lot like jousting. You know, the medieval pastime in which two horsemen with giant lances charge full tilt across a field and try to knock each other off of their horses. Fortunately, this is a rather photogenic exercise, which has worked to Brian Helgeland’s advantage in his lively new knight errant fantasy “A Knight’s Tale.” Helgeland, who wrote “L.A. Confidential” before taking up the directing reins with the Mel Gibson vehicle “Payback,” seems to have a great deal of affection for this genre. He is not, however, above throwing in a few twists of his own.

In fact, Helgeland has filtered the whole picture through a decidedly 21st Century point of view, and the saving grace is that he doesn’t take any of it too seriously. In short, rather than gloomily recreating a faded genre (think Gladiator), he has revived it with humor, romance, and snappy music. Ah yes, the music. He has filled up his movie’s soundtrack with a lot of feel-good sounds of the seventies, but not for the purpose of lampooning the songs. On the contrary: he likes the way the tunes underscore what is happening on screen. And he’s not half wrong. The songs are present on more than just the soundtrack. In one scene, the crowd actually starts to chant along with Queen; in another, partygoers dance to David Bowie's “Golden Years.” For a moment I had a terrifying flashback to “Coprock,” the short-lived TV show which had the cops breaking out into song periodically.

But as it turned out I was kind of disappointed that Helgeland didn’t pursue this angle more aggressively. It would have been mighty amusing to hear, say, Thin Lizzy’s “The Boys are Back in Town” performed by a 15th Century version of a rock band using period instruments. Attaching a modern sensibility to a period genre is a tried-and-true approach, as fans of the TV series “Hercules” and “Xena” know. Indeed, the rock idiom suits the material here just fine, particularly since Helgeland tricks up the jousting matches like a medieval version of the WWF’s Smackdown, which, perhaps, they were. Heath Ledger (last seen as Mel Gibson’s eldest son in The Patriot) makes his play for movie stardom as William, a poor-born squire, who, when his master dies, takes up his identity in order to compete in the jousting and sword competitions. Apparently there are a whole series of these competitions, making them into a kind of PGA of yore, and you have to be a nobleman to participate. Aided by his trusty stalwarts Roland (Addy) and Wat (Tudyk), William manages to carry off his deception in a local tournament.

Then he crosses paths with Geoffrey Chaucer (yes, that Chaucer), who agrees to fake some documents proving William’s noble birth, allowing him to move up to the big leagues. Chaucer is played by Paul Bettany, who nearly steals the movie with his sly and funny portrayal. Chaucer is depicted as a smooth talker with a gambling problem, and when he agrees to serve as William’s herald, he delivers hilariously modernist introductions (“the lance that thrilled France!”), no doubt paving the way for ringside announcers for centuries to come. Of course there is a love interest for William, the beautiful Jocelyn (Sossamon), though the way she demands he prove his love for her makes it seem like a good idea for William to ditch her as soon as possible. (I thought he was better matched with Kate, his gal pal armorer, anyway.) And, yes, there is a dangerous looking knight in black armor, Count Adhemar (Sewell) whom William must defeat in order to achieve his final victory, not against the Count, mind you, but against his own lack of self-esteem. In the end, “A Knight’s Tale” is as much an Oprah-worthy story of self help as it is a story of jousting.

William must overcome the accident of his birth to realize his dreams, and he does so with determination and pluck. Darn it, he just won’t accept it when people tell him he can’t achieve his goals (or, in the vernacular of the movie, “change his stars”). He is convinced that he can, and it is not likely to surprise anyone in the audience that he does. This angle gives the movie a decidedly democratic flavor, though no one would mistake it for a political treatise. Helgeland keeps the focus on rooting for his hero. The crisp photography, well staged action, clever writing, and, above all, its refusal to take itself too seriously, raise “A Knight’s Tale” above the limitations of its genre, and deliver a rousing and entertaining ride. (5/14/2001)