John Malkovich acting as "Athos" is cringe-worthy. I adore Malkovich's acting when he's hot. But what happened in this film? He reads his lines directly from the script pages with little or no reality. Was he pissed at the director, other actors? WTH.
katie keene
@katiekeene The scene where Athos is teaching Philippe, and he breaks down because Philippe mentions his dead son, was the best acting I've seen Malkovich do (and yes, I've seen Being John Malkovich). It's one of the few scenes I remember.
But I don't remember his performance in the rest of this movie, so it didn't strike me as being particularly good or bad.
Thank you, smoko, for your reply.
I was commenting on other scenes in The Man in Iron Mask where John was off the mark and came off dry as Sahara sand in a couple scenes. Perhaps JM was having a disputation with someone on the set. Who knows?
I know Malkovich is a good dramatic actor, but like anyone, he can have "a bad day at the office." View the film again and let me know what you think of all his scenes.
Thanks again for your comment.
katie keene
I've always taken it to be that his character would have still been in the grieving process of losing his son, plus the fact that he would have felt that his good friend D'Artagnan had sided with the man responsible for his son's death, hence Malkovich playing him that way & why he could have come across as being a bit apathetic.
You've got to know the rules before you can break 'em. Otherwise, it's no fun. - Sonny Crockett
May I say, what a beautiful name you have, Katie. :) Double-K. I agree with you about John Malkovich. I love him, but he didn't really seem to fit his character here.
shareThank you, GIRobotII, for your reassurance about JM in 'Iron Mask.' Malkovich may have had a good scene or two in this film but, like you said, he was miscast. Perhaps the director saw him as the King of France in the Joan of Arc film and figured he could do another French dignitary.
Thanks, too, for complimenting my KK. Actually, the name comes from a comic book character in the 1940s-1950s about a glamorous, raven-haired beauty, model/actress Katie Keene and her nemesis rival, blond "Gloria," and their boyfriends and escapades in the movie business.
"Archie" and his gang survived, and especially the Super Powers of Marvel Comics, but Katie Keene was probably discredited and dismissed due to being seen as a poor role model for young girls by women libbers' activists. ;)
katie keene
May I say, what a beautiful name you have, Katie. :) Double-K. I agree with you about John Malkovich. I love him, but he didn't really seem to fit his character here.
shareI agree. John's acting in this movie is the one thing that I don't like. Everything else, I like. But John's acting sure stinks up an otherwise enjoyable movie.
shareI thought his Athos was one of the stronger performances in the film. Great to see him not playing a version of a psychopathic villain for a change.🐭
shareI'm with you all the way on this one. I was just discussing this very fact with my cousin on Thanksgiving. I liked him in this movie and it's the only movie I can think of when he's not a loon.
The grave is no bar to my call.
His best line: "The next time we meet, one of us will die" lol
shareMalkovich usually ruins my enjoyment of everything he appears in, but you are right: he's extraordinarily bad in this one.
shareFilms are a director's medium. Actors don't just do what they want. I agree Malkovich isn't great in this, but you have to take the direction into account.
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