Knight's Tale, A

Mr. Showbiz Michael Atkinson

Actually lighter, wittier, and more original than it has a right to be.

New Times (L.A.) Gregory Weinkauf

Smart, wry and awesome, all at once.

Film.com Gemma Files

What ensues is never exactly unpredictable, but always witty, fresh and fun.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Savvy without being smug, cute without being saccharin, and funny without slipping into over-the-top goofiness, this is a 14th-century good time.

San Francisco Chronicle Bob Graham

More often than not, it's fun.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

It's a reminder of the days before films got so cynical and unrelentingly violent. A Knight's Tale is whimsical, silly and romantic.

Portland Oregonian Kim Morgan

Though the picture is definitely flawed, it maintains a joie de vivre that's surprisingly refreshing.

Boston Globe Jay Carr

A Knight's Tale, will either repel you or win you over. It won me over.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

With its cheerful hailstorm of anachronisms and classic-rock soundtrack, there's nothing medieval about it.

Slate David Edelstein

Simply a jolly good (k)night out.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

A Knight's Tale wasn't made for people like me. It was made for the kids of summer.

Washington Post Rita Kempley

The action scenes are beautifully mounted and photographed and offer a sense of the rigors of the sport.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

It's a dumb summer movie done with smarts.

Chicago Tribune Robert K. Elder

There's much to love about this "Rocky" on horseback, and those laughable blemishes just fold into jokes that Helgeland likely intends audiences to laugh at.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

A bewildering but never boring yarn.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Fine family entertainment.

Time Richard Schickel

The result is half Python, half Ivanhoe--and not as much fun as either.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

The picture itself is good-humored, but bland and predictable. It's a cross between an All-American vaudevillian version of "Shakespeare in Love" and Mel Brooks's "Robin Hood: Men in Tights."

Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector

Would be sweeter if the fair maiden weren't such a pill and more exciting if the villain weren't quite so nasty.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Laddish, one joke, genre scrambling rock & roll fairy tale.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

As advertised, A Knight's Tale does try to rock you. The problem is, it doesn't rock you nearly enough.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

This brazen mix of old and new is undermined by the predictable story, shallow characterizations and a dopey sense of humor.

New York Magazine Peter Rainer

For all its hipness, the movie serves up some awfully old chestnuts.

USA Today Susan Wloszczyna

From the moment he trudges through the woods in his scratched and smudged birthday suit, Paul Bettany as a saucy Geoffrey Chaucer takes command.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

Works neither as an exuberant rock 'n' roll picture nor as a heroic fable. It will rock you --straight to sleep.

Village Voice Ed Park

At best harmless, if not quite fun.

Newsweek David Ansen

Maybe you have to be 14 to find all of this terribly clever.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

The result is as flat as a year-old beer commercial.

Variety Todd McCarthy

Traditionalists and older viewers in general will scoff, while pop culture addicts will no doubt go with the flow.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

A Middle Ages "Rocky" that spares no cliche in its unduly long, 2 1/4 hours.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

The film's one saving grace is Ledger (Mel Gibson's son in "The Patriot").

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

The skits are dreadful, the jokes suck.