The Man in the Iron Mask

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich, Gerard Depardieu, Gabriel Byrne, Peter Sarsgaard, Hugh Laurie, Anne Parillaud, Judith Godreche
Directed by: Randall Wallace
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action, Adventure
1998

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A plot is hatched to replace the cruel King of France (Leonardo DiCaprio) with his imprisoned, secret twin brother.

Review:

Tim: I can't remember the last time I watched a movie with as incredible of a cast as The Man in the Iron Mask that was such an average movie despite the talent involved. This film is overly long (2 hours and 12 minutes- really?) and doesn't do nearly enough to hold our interest through the duration. At times I was bored and checked out and had to fight hard to reengage with this film. It's an okay movie, but man, I really didn't like it all that much.

I do believe a lot of criticism needs to go to director Randall Wallace. However, I chalk up his failures more to his inexperience than his talent. This is his directorial debut and it's a very challenging way to begin your directing career. This film is a period piece and tells a story few Americans are intimately familiar with. There's a large cast and quite a lot happens in the story. The director needed to firmly establish an emotional bond with the characters to give us a reason to stick with the movie through its long run time. He or she had to juggle multiple storylines and keep the film moving at an effective momentum. Most of these things don't happen, and I believe it's because Wallace just didn't have the experience to know how to handle these challenges. This movie would have been significantly better in the hands of a more competent director.

While that is the film's biggest limitation, the cast is the highlight. It's incredible to see how much talent is involved in this film. Leonardo DiCaprio headlines the cast and shows his range by playing two very different parts. He was the right actor for this role because it required someone with real talent who could simultaneously play two men who look the same but couldn't be more different. He was up for the challenge and delivered a strong performance. Jeremy Irons is such an accomplished actor and he brought his talent to improve the film. I enjoyed his performance and the film was better for it. The same can be said for John Malkovich- the guy is a brilliant actor and I thoroughly enjoyed his strong performance here. Gabriel Byrne had such a tough role because he needed to be somewhat unlikable while still retaining some connection with the audience. Unfortunately, I don't think he struck the right balance. He is a very strong actor, but I just did not like his performance here. He needed to be mysterious but interesting enough that we'd care. It was truly a challenging ask, but his performance didn't hit the right notes. Gerard Depardieu felt too over-the-top for me. He was supposed to be the comic relief and while he manages a smile here and there, I didn't find his performance convincing or especially relevant. He felt out of sync with the rest of the cast and wasn't leveraged properly. It was fun seeing smaller performances by Peter Sarsgaard and Hugh Laurie. While director Wallace doesn't get the full use of his cast, it was still genuinely exciting to see all this impressive talent collected in one place.

The story has some cool elements to it. It's no surprise that the basics are solid, as it's based on an Alexander Dumas novel. However, the story itself only manages to be mildly entertaining. It's never boring- there's too much of the classic story elements in place for it to be terrible. However, the film badly needed to be edited down. The movie doesn't hold a deep enough connection nor does it build an appropriate sense of momentum. It builds towards the finale, but very, very slowly. I thought the big moment when the firing squad shoots was poorly done and confusing. That was a pivotal moment and Wallace doesn't put together an effective enough scene.

The Man in the Iron Mask is loaded with talent, but it needed a much stronger captain manning the ship. As is, this is an overlong, average movie that squanders its immense talent. The film was okay- I certainly didn't hate it, but it was a bit of a chore to sit through and I don't have any desire to see it again.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 6



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