Date: Fri 27-Mar-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: DONNAM

Quick Words:

DiCaprio-Titanic-Byrne-Louis

Full Text:

(rev "Man in the Iron Mask" for Now Playing)

Now Playing--

"Man in the Iron Mask" Falls Flat

By Trey Paul Alexander III

Poor Leo. Don't hate him because he's beautiful. Leonardo DiCaprio was one of

the few involved in Titanic who didn't reap any Oscar benefits during the 70th

Annual Academy Awards ceremony. But he'll be fine. In fact, the swelling clout

of the young actor, who is able to make scores of teen admirers fawn with a

single glance, continues to grow. His screen idol status in now near

stratospheric, as evidenced by the success of The Man in the Iron Mask .

DiCaprio has been criticized as too contemporary in his recent films,

including this newest take on the Alexandre Dumas story. His very American,

Ohio-kid-makes-good manner has felt a bit out of place in Romeo & Juliet ,

Titanic , and now in The Man in the Iron Mask . But by the same token, it's

exactly his modern charms that have made these movies so accessible to the

younger set. For those of us not preoccupied with playground politics or prom

dates, DiCaprio is also appealing because of his guilelessness and palpable

sincerity.

That said, however, despite DiCaprio's allure, The Man in the Iron Mask ,

currently playing and positioned near the top of the box office charts, but

still unable to unseat Titanic , really has little business doing much

business at all.

It's quite a shame, actually. A movie that casts DiCaprio in not one, but two

roles -- as King Louis XIV and his twin brother, Philippe -- and boasts

Gabriel Byrne, John Malkovich, Jeremy Irons and Gerard Depardieu as the famed

Musketeers should have little problem drumming up viewer interest. But the

film's potential -- that nagging feeling the viewer keeps getting while the

movie rolls on, hoping it will get better, gather steam and forge ahead -- is

never realized, let alone hardly tapped.

The Musketeers -- Aramis (Irons), Porthos (Depardieu) and Athos (John

Malkovich) -- are in retirement, while D'Artagnan (Byrne) still serves the

king. However, Louis XIV is a ruthless ruler, feeding Parisians spoiled food

(if any food at all) and bedding countless ladies-in-waiting, stopping at

nothing (including murder) to gain his latest conquest. Led by Aramis, the

Musketeers determine the king must go, and their plan is to free his twin

brother, the man in the iron mask, and use him to replace the cruel monarch.

The Man in the Iron Mask fails to garner any significant pace or dramatic

pulse because it fails to determine exactly what it is it's trying to be. The

hodgepodge of American, British and French actors (all speaking in their

native accents) makes it hard to argue for any historical accuracy; the

flowing tresses and frilly costumes point to a possible camp rendering. But

the earnesty of all involved -- except maybe for Depardieu, who plays the fool

-- signal little room for frivolity, and the almost utter lack of

swashbuckling derring-do (or at least any comprehensibly choreographed

semblance thereof) deems it far short of any diverting, summer season-style

entertainment.

Blame can be heaped upon the lap of writer and first-time director Randall

Wallace, the scribe behind the Oscar-winning Braveheart . As a writer, Wallace

seems particularly well-suited for the type of gallant, noble prose needed for

the Musketeers, who fight for all that is just and good in France. Remember,

Wallace is the guy who put the words, "They may take our land, but they'll

never take our FREEDOM! ," in the mouth of Mel Gibson's William Wallace in

Braveheart . But alas, his dialogue is flat and anachronistic here. Even "One

for all, all for one!" lacks the punch and resonance it should have... indeed,

so does the film itself.

The Man in the Iron Mask is rated PG-13 for sparse violence, some unnecessary

profanity and unwarranted footage of Depardieu's bare backside.