The latest in our series of comfort film recommendations is a look back to 2001’s absurdly enjoyable mix of romance, action and anachronistic music choices

There’s a neat little moment in A Knight’s Tale that I like to think speaks directly to how it became one of my favourite films. Having riled up the crowd before Heath Ledger’s imposter knight William rides into a joust, Paul Bettany’s boisterous Geoffrey Chaucer tells him: “I got their attention. You go and win their hearts.”

Brian Helgeland’s 2001 film is on paper absurd. It’s a medieval sports movie about jousting, filmed on cheapo sets in post-Velvet revolution Prague to an arena-rock soundtrack, which begins with peasants walloping wooden stands to Queen’s We Will Rock You. Peter Bradshaw wrote in his review at the time: “Is the film based on a dream he had after eating far too much cheese?...