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Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Gabriel Byrne, Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich, Gerard Depardieu,
Anne Parillaud, Judith Godreche, Edward Atterton. Written and Directed by Randall Wallace.
It's 1662 in France, and all is not well. Louis XIV (DiCaprio) is a young, heartless despot, who cares not that his subjects are starving because he'd rather be waging wars for his glory than release the abundant food he has stored up for these unnecessary armies. The man charged with protecting him from his many enemies is one of the famous musketeers D'Artagnan (Byrne) who was loyal to Louis' father, and continues to be loyal to the current king, even though Louis is a self-absorbed, unfeeling shadow of his father. D'Artagnan is the only musketeer still on the job - the other musketeers have long since retired since their glory days. One day, Louis spots a beautiful young woman Catherine (Godreche), who he wishes to have, one in a long line of conquests. The problem is Catherine is to be engaged to the son of another musketeer Athos (Malkovich). So the king has the son sent to the front line, where he is killed in action. Well Athos is enraged, and he enlists the help of the other musketeers, the priest Aramis (Irons) and the lusty Porthos (Depardieu). But D'Artagnan refuses to join, staying loyal to the king, hoping Louis will become the king that D'Artagnan continues to hope for. The three musketeers break a prisoner out of jail, the man with the iron mask of the title (also DiCaprio), who the king had thrown into jail six years earlier. This man has a secret which is the key to the musketeers plan to oust Louis. But there are other secrets that complicate matters, including a one with the Queen mother (Parillaud). This is one of many reworkings of the Alexander Dumas novel of the same name, and is supposed to be very sketchily based on history. There was supposed to be official accounts of a masked prisoner being held by Louis, but much of the novel, and the movie's very neat ending is fictional. The story, by Braveheart writer Wallace, is essentially a good twin - evil twin variation, where King Louis is the epitome of evil, and the other kind and good-natured. It starts quite slowly, but eventually gets going. There are a few unbelievable things, as there was in the overrated Braveheart, such as a firing squad shooting the place up, and impossibly not hitting a single musketeer. While most of the dialogue is atmospheric and appropriate to the period, with even some wit, there are a few laughable lines that not even these good actors can make believable. And unlike Meryl Streep, there is no attempt to change or hide their own accents. We've got French, British, Irish and American accented musketeers. The movie is elevated by the excellent cast. DiCaprio is not just a pretty face - he demonstrates again a solid range of ability, although I'm sure the backlash against him is coming. As the king, his eyes are cold and blank, and he ably displays a chilling ruthlessness and regal manner. As the man in the iron mask, he shows a sweet and innocent side, and as he displayed as Jack Dawson in Titanic, he has a knack in making nobility and honour believable. Irons and Depardieu are funny and enthusiastic. But Byrne is a highlight. He rarely plays a hero, but here he expertly portrays the conflict D'Artagnan feels, torn between his oath to the king, and his loyalty to the French people and his former musketeers. The actors, as well as parts of the script, give the film more depth than the material merits. I came out of the theatre with an uplifted feeling, because of the film's emphasis on loyalty, decency and doing the right thing. This is essentially meant to be a fun, adventure film, with swashbuckling, nifty costumes and heaving bosoms, and on that basis it largely succeeds.  |