For those who like their fantasy films mixed with a good helping of romance, Russ Emanuel’s “Her Knight” is aimed directly at you. Viewers should take heed, however, as the sap here is laid on pretty thick and presents a potential choking hazard.
When college student Anne sleeps, she dreams of a knight saving her from an oppressive force. When she’s awake, she gorges herself on Byzantine history, probably not to her boyfriend’s total interest as she finds him cavorting around with a couple of loose lushes at a party. Enter David, a gentle young man who takes immense interest in his Asian heritage. The two hit it off, as friends, and they spend a good amount of their free time with each other, talking about their cultural interests. But then the inevitable happens and the boyfriend becomes jealous over the interests shared between Anne and David. So begins a duel that has Anne discover just who this mysterious knight is from her dreams. You know who it is, don’t you? That’s right.
So, yes, the love story herein is very sappy, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I like some sap here and there as do plenty of other folks, but there needs to be something else there to guide us through to the end so we’re not just concentrating on that sap. Strong characters is a good start and it’s something I feel this film is missing. Yes, Anne and David are extremely passionate about their interests, but as they are depicted here, it seems that Byzantine and Asian history is the only thing they have going for them in their lives. In short, they seem to be a drag and I don’t think there’s much for an audience member to cling to. This doesn’t mean that they should be party animal college students, who also happen to have a brain inside their skulls, it could be really subtle things, something to remind you that they’re human, not cold, distant beings who live their lives in history books. On the other side of the spectrum, however, the boyfriend is your cookie cutter, cliché bad boyfriend from hell, but I appreciate him because he did provide some comic relief.
All in all, you can tell that the filmmaker feels strongly about the material here, but it appears to be so strong that the hand has come down too heavy and some bad decisions were made due to blindness of emotion.
