28 thoughts on “The Man in the Iron Mask (1998)

  1. Oh God, “Lulu Do Crapio” was just one of the variations on his name I came up with as an unhappy twink-aged young gay in the late 90s. According to the cooing chickenhawks on the provincial gay scene, Adam Rickitt, various limp-haired Australian schoolboys in soap operas, and darling Lulu were the VERY epitome of gorgeousness and any voice of dissent elicited horrified gasping, cheek-clutching and pearl-clutching. It also earned me a full-body shave at one point, but that’s one of many stories for the autobiography.

    I liked Titanic VERY much. He died in it.

  2. If you like Hugh Laurie, you’ll love “The Night Manager.” He plays a rotten-to-the-core arms dealer vs Tom Hiddleston. Contemporary, but very worth watching, On the other hand, I saw Leo in “The Revenant,” which IS a period piece and thought him excellent.

  3. I couldn’t stomach Leo until Blood Diamond, and I almost didn’t give it a chance after Titanic and Gangs of New York. Overall, I think he’s better when he’s not cast as a romantic lead.

  4. I love Leo and I think that he is usually a fine actor. I hate most movies that he chooses to be in but c’mon, how awesome was he in Gilbert Grape?!

    Later movies that I love him in are The Departed…and I’m blanking after that.

    That being said, this movie was not enjoyable for me. And I was so excited when it came out too. My sibs would not take me to the movies so I had to wait to rent it and just..ugh. Let down!

  5. For me, this movie was all about Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich, and Gabriel Byrne. With Jeremy Irons being my favorite. I watch almost anything those 3 are in.

  6. I still maintain that Leo’s best role was Arnie in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. But I did like him in Catch Me If You Can and Blood Diamond and The Departed. He does those types of roles very well usually. But he was awful in Gangs of New York, which was awful itself.
    I remember seeing this flick and being annoyed at Leo in both roles. Blond doesn’t really do it for me either (I make exceptions for JJ Feild and Tom Hiddleston). I never got him as a romantic lead in the 90s and i still don’t. The costuming was well done and the other actors were good, but for me they couldn’t save the film.

  7. Young Leo would have made a perfect whatsisface, Darnely? Mary Stuart’s second (boy-toy) husband. Perfection.
    I was a teenager when this movie came out and even I thought he looked utterly dreadful in that crappy mullet wig.

  8. I’ve always been a fan of Leonardo DiCaprio as an actor. He’s done a lot of movies that I have really enjoyed . . . especially in the last 15 years or so. But “THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK” is not a particular favorite of mine. I don’t dislike it, but I don’t love it. I had no problems with the cast . . . well, I thought Peter Sarsgaard was a bit sappy in this. But, it’s just not a big favorite with me.

  9. Not only funny-looking, but his head always seems large relative to the rest of him. I always thought he looked like a tadpole.

  10. I am of an age that I remember when a young Leo was brought into Growing Pains to fill the Tiger Beat gap being left by an aging Kirk Cameron. He did not thrill me there and he didn’t do it for me in anything after either. That being said, I saw this movie in the theater and while the story was alright the acting was too uneven and contrived. Also Christine’s unbound hair irritated me. I know she is supposed to be the eye candy but would it kill them to put it up and have the obligatory scene where her hair is seductively loosed and tumbles down her back.

  11. Jeremy Irons and the costumes were why I watched it. Although I do admit to being a fan of Leo, he did nothing for me in this. I did drool over him in Titanic and Blood Diamonds. Also I thought his Howard Hughes really was excellent. Cate as Kate.
    What bothered me in this was that Louis wasn’t regal and royal enough. Compare it to Versailles & Alan Rickman’s Louis and you’ll see what I mean. Angst ridden teen doesn’t cut it when dealing with Le Roi Soleil (Sun King aka Louis XIV).
    Believe the Richard Chamberlain version was better.

  12. I liked this movie but like pretty much everyone else – did not get the appeal of Leonardo DiCaprio during this period – I think that I have liked a total of 3 – yes 3 films he was in – Gilbert Grape, The Departed and Catch Me If You Can. He is not romantic leading man material because he just isn’t manly enough. D’Artagnan (Gabriel Byrne), Porthos (Gerard Depardieu), Aramis (Jeremy Irons), and Athos (John Malkovich) really carried this movie – I also liked the character of Lt. Andre played by Edward Atterton. I thought the costuming was very good.

  13. Around the same time this movie came out, Camille Paglia made a defense of Tom Cruise’s masculinity/heterosexuality in her column on Salon.com, in which she memorably stated that the “boyish beauty” of Cruise “is certainly more robustly masculine that that chicken-hearted, butter-nosed baby dyke, Leonardo DiCaprio.”

    (And no, that’s not auto-correct having fun with her quote. Paglia actually wrote “butter-nosed,” not “button-nosed.”)

    But damn, those James Acheson costumes are gorgeous, and thanks for posting those shots of the costumes on display, particularly the ones of that gown with all the detail on the embellishment.

    I don’t know what I love you for more, that or the snark.

  14. I would kick Leo out of bed regardless of how much damask he is wearing. I would keep the damask, though.

  15. Malkovitch malkovitch malkovitch. And Depardieu. If you’re gonna have a man, have a MAN. Di Caprio. Yuk. I also call him Crappio, and can’t stand his weird domey head. I’m another vote for Gilbert Grape.
    LOVE the Paglia quote!

  16. No love for Gabriel Byrne as d’Artagnan? He certainly was the only thing working for me in this hot mess of a movie.

    (At one point during a particularly badly done fight scene, I may have burst out with “Oh, I don’t think so” so loudly that the entire theater heard me. ).

    1. Yes.

      However, people are also inclined to NOT be attracted to every sex symbol that are seemingly universally adored and to puzzle over why they themselves do not find that person attractive. Relevant to this post, I don’t feel the author was “bashing” Mr DiCaprio for “being successful at a young age”, they’re factoring in that a good portion of this movie was based around the fact at the time this movie was released, DiCaprio was a huge draw for teenage girls, although they personally do not see the sex appeal the casting director, studio executives, and millions of fans apparently did.

  17. I never got the appeal of Leonardo either.

    I saw this movie straight after Rocky Horror Picture Show. Trust me, I could NOT unthink of what kind of underwear Cardinal Richeliu must be wearing…

  18. I was a teenager in the 90’s and I never found Leo that appealing, he is much better now, I felt the same way about Brad Pitt (who has really come into his own now and I think he’s great now). I had a huge crush on Jeremy Irons! that’s the main reason I watched this movie and I LOVED him in Brideshead Revisited I watched that so many times when I was a teenager! still love it now :D

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