A Knight’s Tale is about Heath Ledger, a squire who wants to be a knight. One day he discovers a dead corpse of a knight and decides to put on his armor to compete locally in a jousting tournament. With the help of his friends, he trains, and wins a match. Can Heath Ledger joust his way to victory while winning the heart of the girl of his dreams, even when he’s not of noble blood?

The basic plot of a Knight’s Tale is very simplistic—basically, it’s Rocky in shining armor! There are a few plot twists here and there, but what really hurts the film’s story is the lack of a decent villain. There is a bad guy in the film, but he never appears threatening… He’s just an asshole in black armor who is after the same girl Heath Ledger wants!

The main problem with A Knight’s Tale is that it can’t make up it’s mine what it is. Is it a movie set in medieval times that plays it straight? One would think so from most of the scenes, but every once in a while a pop song from the 1980’s creeps into the soundtrack. It really doesn’t work at all in the film, especially when the decent instrumental medieval-sounding music plays in the background. Also, the first half of the movie is very upbeat and light-hearted with many failed attempts at comic relief. The second half gets more serious, slowing the plot down in romance and politics.

Most of the acting in A Knight’s Tale isn’t too bad, but most of it isn’t excellent either. There weren’t any performances that really stood out for me here, although Heath Ledger’s sidekicks show a lot of energy—especially the guy who plays Chaucer.

The directing works most of the time, although the jousting scenes are almost always shot in slow-motion, making a joust last forever.

A Knight’s Tale is a pretty mediocre movie. It might make an OK rental, but it’s not great.

I give A Knight’s Tale ** out of ****.