Customer Reviews

Ben & Arthur

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1 star:		(14)

 

 

I'd rather give it negative 5 stars, but it seems I have to give it at least one. I had read a few reviews elsewhere, and this seemed like it might be an ok movie. Is it possible to get a refund? The acting was poor, as was the direction, the sets (did a child draw that "stained glass window"?), and especially the script. Pretending to be an indictment of the Christian Right and support for same-sex marriage, the plot was loaded with self-loathing, internalized homophobia, and unintended parody. It doesn't even work as camp, and there is certainly no irony. Must we be recommended these films just because they are gay-themed? How this even got distribution is beyond me. DO NOT BUY OR RENT OR BORROW OR ACCIDENTALLY VIEW THIS FILM. Unless of course, you don't really care how we are portrayed, just as long as we are portrayed.

To call this the worst gay film ever is an act of charity. Any list of worst films would have to include "Ben & Arthur." That may cover a lot of ground, but the movie makes you wonder how a film can be this bad by accident. There are home movies with more talent and craftsmanship than this turd on a disk. I wish I could sue the filmmakers to get back the 85 minutes of my life I wasted on it.

If I listed everything wrong with the film, it would use up all the available space. But I'll give the basics. The actors speak as though remote-controlled from outer space. The photography is sometimes so out of focus it induces headaches. The sequence of events is so choppy, it seems to have been edited with garden shears and chewing gum. And the location work is laughable. When the couple in the title arrive in Vermont to marry, they are surrounded by palm trees and tropical plants.

Now the story--you won't know whether to laugh or cringe. It concerns a gay couple (Ben and Arthur) who want to get legally married. When Arthur's Chirstian fundamentalist brother (with bleached hair, tattoos, and garish apartment) learns of this, he and his priest decide to murder them. Just like real life! Also Ben's crazy estranged wife enters the mix. At one point, they struggle over a gun. They wrestle for it in a polite, obliging way, like a brother and sister playfully roughhousing.

Another point is why an actor as unattractive and untalented as Sam Mraovich (who plays Arthur) is the star. It's because he wrote, produced, and directed the film. What's mind boggling is that he thinks he's a hottie. At one point during the film, he applies for a job as a stripper and dances like a disabled war veteran. And the club owner propositions him! And he does the only nude scene in the film. He does provoke some sympathy, as he resembles a beached baby whale, but it's still an embarrassing spectacle.

Every second of this film is so false and incompetent, it's like watching something from antoher planet. Why was it even filmed at all? Maybe Sam Mraovich thought this was the only way he could romance an attractive guy without running up his credit card.

Talk about not judging a book by its cover! Considering the seductive, well-built man on the cover of this DVD, one might expect a great story inside -- or at least a sexy one with enough pretty people to make even a bad story palatable.

Not so. There are only two attractive men in this hilariously inept film. One is Jamie Brett Gabel as Ben, who graces the cover. The other is exquisite Arthur Huber who plays a private investigator. The brevity of his appearance in the film is certainly one of its two greatest crimes.

The story sounds interesting: a gay couple wants to marry but are thwarted by virulent, violent, homophobic christians, but the incompetence of the script, acting, and film design thwart the production of a promising film. A glance at the credits indicates that the director's entire family helped create and - pun intended - execute this film.

The script is so disjointed it's hard to keep straight, but here's the gist: Ben and Arthur are going to Hawaii to get hitched after living together for three years. Ben chooses this moment to announce that he is already married - and to a woman. She is, like so many in this film, completely insane and comes to their apartment with a gun. Arthur's 'christian' brother, equally insane and well-armed, takes rather immoderate steps to prevent this blasphemous marriage - like murder and mayhem. There may be more gunplay in this little West Hollywood drama than at the OK Corral. Every time the boys open their door (strangely, they never ask who's there) a gun-toting psychotic appears, but no amount of shooting in their apartment seems to get a rise from neighbors or police.

There is added confusion due to the locations. Ben and Arthur eventually settle on Vermont for their long-awaited nuptials, but palm trees figure prominently in the landscape when their plane lands, and in the lush tropical garden where the ceremony finally takes places.

If you find yourself wondering about the whimsical miscasting of Arthur - a tubby little nebbish who wears socks and sandals with bermuda shorts and runs like an unathletic girl - remember he's the writer/director. The film's other great crime is that Arthur is the only man to be undressed for any length of time.

One burning question remains: why beautiful, brawny Ben would be living with, ever-apologizing to, much less marrying a peevish nerd who, when chided for causing Ben's bike to be stolen, flounces out of the room, plops himself face-down on the bed, and sulks. Suffice it to say that in some hands, reel life is very, very different from real life!

I bought this DVD given the latest events and debate of gay marriage that have transpired in California and the nation this year. Ben and Arthur, in a three year partnership decide to get married and are constantly thwarted by Arthur's religious, crazed brother. Given a rapidly changing situation, the movie is already a bit dated given the options now available to this couple. With all due respect to Sam Mraovich, who directed, produced, casted, and screen-played this flick, I hope he can make a giant leap forward and more satisfying in his next effort. "LOW budget" is the theme throughout this entire film. It's like watching a stretched out version of the "in-between" dialogue scenes in a low-budget porn film. (heh heh) This movie is filled with bad acting, bad dialogue, cheap sets, bad lighting, bad editing, and bad direction. All the actors seem to be "reading" their dialogue throughout the movie instead of actually acting out their characters. I felt little to no chemistry between Ben and Arthur. Ben's sculpted looks and body verses Arthur's... well... just the opposite... seem mismatched as a couple. The plot just slowly disintegrates to the point where it just gets laughable. Every time Ben or Arthur open the door to their apartment, something terrible happens. I started to wonder why they just didn't stop opening the door or at least ask who was there. Of course, that would have "ended" the movie, which would have at least put the viewers out of their misery!

The plot description is also a bit misleading. It states that Arthur is pushing the idea of marriage and Ben is content to keep things "status quo" with no marriage license. Ben, in the film, however, is just as eager- and more so- to get married than Arthur is. The ending of the movie, which turns very dark, leaves the viewer with no satisfaction. A different ending might have helped to save this movie a bit.

The plot and characters become more farceable as the movie progresses. Couple this with the bad acting, bad everything!, I was just chuckling my way through most of the film. Though this film wasn't met to be a comedy, Mr. Mraovich would have done himself, the actors, and the viewers more justice had he turned this screenplay into a full-pledged comedy.

Con a friend into buying this flick if you really want to see it. If I can say one thing positive about "Ben & Arthur," it would be that this film is so bad, it just might become a cult classic. My real rating for this movie would be a "minus" five stars!

This is has got to be one of the worst movies I have ever seen. Bad acting, bad shooting, stupid story. The people involved in this should stand trail its that bad.

This has to be the worst film made in history. It wasn't bad enough that the cinematography was not up to par, but the script is horrible. The dialogue between the characters seemed forced, and the situations they go through are more cliché than real life; it stems around the director's/writer's/producer's/caterer's/whatever else he wanted to be in the movie's stereotypical views of homosexuality. The actors really seemed like they had just been picked up off the street, and given $50.00 to say some lines. I do not recommend this movie at all!!!

Intrigued by the synopsis (every gay video these days has a hunk on the cover; this is not to be construed as a good sign) I purchased BEN AND ARTHUR without knowing a thing about it. This is my second (and I assure you it will absolutely be my last) purchase of a CULTURE Q CONNECTION video. As far as I am concerned, this DVD is nothing but a blatant rip-off. I do not make this observation lightly - I am a major collector of videos, gay and mainstream, and I can state with some authority and without hesitation that BEN AND ARTHUR is quite simply the worst film I have ever sat through in my life. Period. My collection boasts over 1,400 films (91% on them on DVD) and of those, well over 300 are gay and lesbian themed. I hardly own every gay movie ever made, but I am comfortable in stating that I pretty much purchase almost every gay video of interest that gets released, and very often I buy videos without knowing anything about the film. Sometimes, this makes for a pleasant surprise - Aimee & Jaguar, It's In The Water, Urbania and Normal are all examples of excellent gay titles that I stumbled upon accidentally. So when I read on the box that BEN AND ARTHUR concerned a conflict between gay lovers and the Christian Right, one of my favorite subjects, I decided to take the plunge sight unseen, despite my previously disappointing purchase of another CULTURE Q CONNECTION title, VISIONS OF SUGAR PLUMS. That film was pretty bad, but compared to BEN AND ARTHUR, it viewed like GONE WITH THE WIND.

So what was so wrong with BEN AND ARTHUR? Plenty! To begin with, the "plot" such as it was, was totally ridiculous. This film almost made me sympathetic to the Christian Right - we are asked to believe not only that a church would expel a member because his brother is gay, but that a priest would actually set up a mob style execution of a gay couple in order to "save their souls" (like this even makes sense). Many scenes are totally incoherent and disconnected from the "plot", and several plot points reflect no logic, follow-up or connection to the story. Murder and violence seem to be acceptable ends to the gay activist / right wing conflict on both sides, and the acting is so bad that it's difficult to image how anybody in this film got hired. The characters that are supposed to be straight are almost without exception played by actors who are clearly gay - and nelly stereotypes to boot; the gay characters are neither sexy nor interesting. This film is enough to put off anybody from buying gay themed videos forever, and the distributors of this film should be ashamed of themselves. The only advantage this picture has over my other CULTURE Q CONECTION purchase, VISIONS OF SUGARPLAMS, is that Ben and Arthur has a soundtrack with clear dialogue. Hardly a distinction, since the writing is so poor that understanding the script only serves to make you more aware of how bad this film truly is. (...)

I can't believe this home video was marketed as a professional film. The cover art probably cost more than the entire film. It is obvious that the film maker (and I use that word loosely)knew he could reach his target audience with a hunky bare-chested photo on the box. Thank goodness I only rented this monstrosity otherwise I would be feeling really cheated.

Here's a movie with a timely plot-- two gay men in love, wanting to get married-- that will have you laughing out loud. The problem is, the film is not a comedy. Although the film maker obviously had good intentions, this is the kind of film that once upon a time would never see the light of day except perhaps as someone's student movie. Unfortunately, it has been made available to an unsuspecting public. Poor acting, miscast actors who frequently fail to relate to each other, flubbed lines, bad editing (the camera is rolling, so you can start moving now!), a laughable script, stereotypical characters (especially the closet case brother and the minister), continuity errors, and a very low budget do not an entertaining or enlightening movie make. The only asset the film has is actor Jamie Brett Gabel, the strikingly good-looking actor featured on the DVD cover. He has potential and smoldering good looks, but Gabel alone cannot overcome this film's definite and numerous short-comings. And if hairy-chested men do not appeal to you, then this film has nothing of value to offer you at all.

BEN & ARTHUR ... What an awesome movie ... all you need is a bunch of friends, enough alcohol (or whatever substance you need to make it fun!), and a great sense of humor. Think of this movie like "Mystery Science Theater 3000" ... add your own subtitles, and it's a GREAT FILM!!!
(if you don't have the friends, the alcohol, or the sense of humor, this film SUCKS!!)