The Man in the Iron Mask (1998)

My Review

“The Man in the Iron Mask” is a drama action film about a group of aging Musketeers plotting to remove King Louis XIV from the throne of France and replacing him with his rumored twin brother, Phillippe Bourbon, who has been imprisoned for years in an iron mask. Director-screenwriter Randall Wallace, in his first job at the helm of a major motion picture, instilled the film with top-rate production values, a talented cast, and penning a passable script which gets better as the film progresses.

The weak link in the movie is Leonardo DiCaprio in the dual role of Louis XIV and Phil Bourbon. His performing skills are weak, as his range as an actor has not yet developed (if it ever really has) this early in his career. He had only been on the big screen since 1991, and his big break as Jack Dawson of “Titanic” (1997) came one year earlier. He won the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Screen Couple for his dual roles of the identical twin Bourbon brothers.

Co-stars include Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich, Gerard Depardieu, Gabriel Byrne, Hugh Laurie, Edward Atterton, Peter Sarsgaard, Anne Parillaud, Judith Godreche, and David Lowe as an advisor to the King. The watchable “The Man in the Iron Mask” was popular at the box office for producer Randall Wallace, United Artists, and MGM Distribution Company. It was filmed at various locations in France.