Proving his comic timing sufficiently, the Brian Helgeland film set Ledger up as a peasant who takes up a knight's task to step into his deceased master's shoes.

While not the kind of film to earn him critical plaudits, the family film raked in all important box-office dollars and gave Ledger visibility.

Unfortunately, this was followed by a career nosedive, with a disastrous version of Ned Kelly and The Order, both in 2003. Critics started wringing their hands, almost writing Ledger off.