The Man in the Iron Mask begins with a tour through France’s famous prison, the Bastille. We see men in cages with straw as beds, men chained to the wall, cruel guards whipping them. As we pan through this dark mess, which with good reasons seems more Braveheart than The Three Musketeers, we learn that when the Bastille was liberated during the French revolution, a cryptic reference was found to an obscure prisoner number, who was labeled as “the man in the iron mask”. No sooner has that slipped across our minds, then I already had high hopes for this film. Leonardo DiCaprio, star of the blockbuster Titanic, probably has as much credit to take for The Man in the Iron Mask’s opening success (Titanic beat it buy less than a quarter of a million dollars last weekend, the first movie to come close to toppling the ship-sinking epic) as do his more seasoned co-stars, John Malkovich as Athos; Jeremy Irons, the warrior turned priest Aramis; Gabriel Byrne as D’Argtanan and Gerard Depardu in a lacklarthy turn as Porthos. Leonardo is the latest teen heartthrob, the only thing is, this guy has actual talent. As the cruel Louis, he is able to switch between seductive and ruthless. DiCaprio’s Louis switches from a man you would follow to the end of the world and back, and a man who will kill his own Musketeers to further his womanizing ways. As Philippe, the twin locked in an iron mask, he brings curiosity, naivete, and compassion to the role. John Malkovich brings a passion to Athos that Keifer Sutherland’s Athos (The Three Musketeers - Disney - 1993) failed to do. This is Malkovich’s most stirring performance since In the Line of Fire. Jeremy Irons is missing some of his usual eccentricity that he usually brings to any role, but he is magnificent as a priest who must decide to follow his King, his God, or his former comrades-in-arms. Gabriel Byrne, best known for his role in the Academy Award winning film Usual Suspects, delivers his best performance since. As D’Argtanan (portrayed by the talent less Chris O’Donnell in Disney’s ‘93 Musketeer movie), Byrne clearly is a man who can act with great talent, surpassing Malkovitch and DiCaprio with ease. Unfortunately, Gerard Depardu, can’t bring much fire to his performance as Porthos, the womanizer of the Musketeers. He has nothing to do but make sometimes funny jokes, squeeze the women, and wander aimlessly around as comic-relief. Randall Wallace, first time director and award winning writer of Braveheart rises to the challange with this loose re-telling of Alexandre’s Durmas’ The Man in the Iron Mask, the third of his “Three Musketeers” stories. The writing is superb, the direction is fantastic. The climax is spectacular, a triumph of all aspects of filmaking that will go down in time as one of the top scenes of all times, rating with “I am your father,” from Empire Strikes Back, “In another time, another place...” from Casablance and “You’ll live to be an old, old lady...” from the more recent Titanic. This is a definite “must-see-in- theatres” film. Go see it, as they say all for one, and one for all...