Simon Papworth

This film attempts to be clever, profound, open to interpretation, surreal, etc. Unfortunately, those responsible for it's story and direction appear to have concentrated so much on producing something primarily ethereal and metaphorical - that they forgot to deliver an engaging story. The central premise of the thing is actually very simple, however, so much pointless window dressing is draped over a very thin story - that it comes across as disjointed and lacking in any sense of coherence. The narrative is almost wholly centred around Dev Patel, is his performance any good? Its impossible to determine asr the prootagonist he pportrays is entirely ineffectual, and impotent , to the point of being practically incidental to events happening directly to him, in his own story. Some people may argue that his inability to effect or sway his fate is a central theme - I.e. there is true honor in accepting the consequences of your actions and this is integral to being a 'true' knight. However, the character of Gawain is so hapless from day one, this still doesn't lend any gravitas to proceedings, simply reinforces the sense of pointlessness about the whole thing. If you loved something like The English Patient, you'll probably love this too. If not, you'll likely find this a pretentious wate of two hours. To be fair.....its very prettily shot, and atmospheric and brooding, and so forth, just not much else. re