Sean Connery as King Arthur? Great! Julia Ormond, the beauty from "Legends of the Fall", as Guinevere? Fantastic! Richard Gere as Sir Lancelot? Uh-oh! The badly miscast Gere struts and smiles and lets his hair whip around in the wind, but a hero he does not make. "First Knight", which strips away nearly every detail of the Camelot fable except the romance between Lancelot and Guinevere, is a noble effort suffering from an emasculated plot which places the noble founder of the round table in little more than a supporting role.
Ormond, who was so tasty in "Legends", recreates her performance from that film by playing the weepy woman who pines for the man she cannot have. Few are her scenes with Connery, to the detriment of the film. "First Knight" does have some beautiful imagery and a stunning battle scene that rages in the night, but it makes for a rather watered-down romantic drama.