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UCFC Movie Reviews Man in the Iron Mask Year: 1998 Director: Randall Wallace Sword Fight Arranger: William Hobbs Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich, Gérard Depardieu, Gabriel Byrne, Anne Parillaud Review by V. Bjerreskov (02 07 23) Try as I might, I cannot find a reliable Cliff Notes version of Dumas' book online, as, yes, this is yet another of his books that I have not read yet. All that I can find, however, indicates that this film is "loosely based" on the novel, which tells me that very little but the characters and broad plot framework made it from novel to screen. Until I read the book (or someone who has read the book tells me differently!), I will proceed with that assumption. Despite the one fatal flaw of this film (which I will go into in the next paragraph), I enjoy this film. Seeing the Musketeers as older, wiser (in some cases), and more experienced is delightful, and although the film doesn't allow too much time to get to know them, the actors are able to leave us with a sense that there is a great history that we've only just begun to tap. I quite enjoyed the subterfuge of jail break and subsequent coup, especially because it shows how well the Musketeers have grown up. The subplots are complex, and can at first viewing be confusing. However, they are so interlinked to the main plot that one needs to understand them in order to understand the entire context of the film. As I said above, there is one fatal flaw in this film, and that is the casting. Or rather, the casting of one role, for all four of the Musketeers are superb. DiCaprio in the title role is a prime example of casting for the moment. Although he is passable as Philippe, his Louis turns my stomach with how awful he is. His pronunciation of "Athos" gives me chills, and he cannot pull off a suitably menacing or plotting expression. As Philippe, he is in familiar territory (think Titanic or even Romeo + Juliet), but still can't manage to distance the character from his alter ego. Should he ever want to try to do a dual role again, I would recommend that he take a look at Willem Dafoe's mirror scene in Spiderman before proceeding. As for the rest of the main players, despite the fact that each of the Musketeers has a different accent (American, British, Irish, and French), Malkovich, Irons, Byrne, and Depardieu were perfectly cast, and combined, they sugar-coat DiCaprio's dismal performance for me. Both women are quite forgettable. The fencing is, of course, merely passable. Malkovich is perhaps the most convincing, undoubtedly drawing on his Dangerous Liaisons experience, but each of the other Musketeers, when they finally get around to actually fencing, gives a good performance. They move the swords as though they actually have weight and can actually cut. However, from what can be seen in between gunsmoke and swirling cloaks, there is a lot of slashing going on. In a close quarters fight, perhaps this is correct for the time. It just seems poor form to me, and given how effectively Hobbs used slashes in The Count of Monte Cristo, I expected a bit more substance. The fencing in this film was only pretty. So yes, DiCaprio is the weak point of this film, but there are too many other good factors (actors, settings, cinematography, and dialogue) to ruin it. It's a film that I can watch once every few months, and still enjoy. Back to Movie Reviews Home  |  About Us   |  About Fencing   |  Links  |  Photo Gallery Image Bank  |  Reviews   |  Fencing Fun  |  Contact Us