The Man in the Iron Mask is a 1998 American action drama film written, directed, and produced by Randall Wallace in his directorial debut.

It stars Leonardo DiCaprio in a dual role as the title character and the villain, Jeremy Irons as Aramis, John Malkovich as Athos, Gérard Depardieu as Porthos, and Gabriel Byrne as D'Artagnan.

[4] Some characters are from Alexandre Dumas's D'Artagnan Romances and some plot elements are very loosely adapted from his 1847–1850 novel The Vicomte de Bragelonne.

The film centers on the aging four musketeers, Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and D'Artagnan, during the reign of King Louis XIV.

At a palace festival, Louis sets his eyes on Christine Bellefort, the fiancée of Raoul, who is the son of former Musketeer Athos and attempts to seduce her.

Louis XIII, to avoid dynastic warfare between his sons, ordered that Philippe be raised in the country with no knowledge of his true identity.

D'Artagnan refuses, privately telling his comrades that he is Louis and Philippe's biological father from his affair with Anne, and that was the reason for his unquestioned loyalty.

After a small graveside service for D'Artagnan, Philippe issues Louis a royal pardon and permits him to live out the remainder of his life in peace and seclusion.

The site's critical consensus states, "Leonardo DiCaprio plays dual roles with diminishing returns in The Man in the Iron Mask, a cheesy rendition of the Musketeers' epilogue that bears all the pageantry of Alexandre Dumas' text, but none of its romantic panache.

[10] Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times wrote that while the "production values are not lacking", "Wallace, in his first try at directing, has been unable to unify the film’s disparate elements.

And events are handled so broadly it’s not surprising to learn that the director’s inspiration was the Classics Illustrated version of the Dumas novel he read as a youth.

[11] Depardieu was nominated for the European Film Academy Achievement in World Cinema Award for his role as Porthos.