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A Knight's Tale

A Knight's Tale

Adventure · Drama · Romance · 2001

William Thatcher, a knight's peasant apprentice, gets a chance at glory when the knight dies suddenly mid-tournament. Posing as a knight himself, William won't stop until he's crowned tournament champion—assuming matters of the heart don't get in the way.

Movie details

A Knight's Tale

“He will rock you.”

2001 Adventure · Drama · Romance 2h 13m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.9 / 10

Community rating

William Thatcher, a knight's peasant apprentice, gets a chance at glory when the knight dies suddenly mid-tournament. Posing as a knight himself, William won't stop until he's crowned tournament champion—assuming matters of the heart don't get in the way.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over A Knight's Tale?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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The Man in the Iron Mask

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Brian Helgeland

Written by

Brian Helgeland

Heath Ledger

Heath Ledger

William Thatcher

Rufus Sewell

Rufus Sewell

Count Adhemar

Shannyn Sossamon

Shannyn Sossamon

Jocelyn

Paul Bettany

Paul Bettany

Geoffrey Chaucer

Laura Fraser

Laura Fraser

Kate

Mark Addy

Mark Addy

Roland

Alan Tudyk

Alan Tudyk

Wat

Court is in session

Put A Knight's Tale on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.