''Ben and Arthur'' is a 2002 American romantic drama film written, directed, produced, edited, scored by and starring Sam Mraovich, and distributed by Ariztical Entertainment. The film concerns a recently married gay couple who face opposition from one partner's brother, who plots to murder them after being ostracized by his church. The film was a

box office bomb A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...

, having earned only $40,000 .The Official Site of the Movie Ben and Arthur
It is considered by some to be one of the worst movies ever made.

Plot

Ben and Arthur are a gay couple in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, eagerly awaiting the legalization of

gay marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

so that they may travel there for their dream wedding. After this comes true, they purchase plane tickets; however, before they leave, they discover that a challenge to the judge's ruling has resulted in a suspension of gay marriage in Hawaii, pending further

judicial review Judicial review is a process under which executive, legislative and administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. A court with authority for judicial review may invalidate laws, acts and governmental actions that are incomp ...

. Ben takes this time to inform Arthur that he is actually already married to a woman named Tammy, whom he wed out of societal pressure before he came to terms with his sexuality, and from whom he has been separated since before he and Arthur met. Arthur becomes angry but decides to stay with Ben anyway. Shortly thereafter, Ben contacts Tammy, finally

comes out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

to her, and asks her for a divorce. Ben and Arthur work at a small diner, where Ben is a dishwasher and Arthur is a waiter. Although Ben—a former nurse who quit to pursue a music career—enjoys the job, Arthur has grown impatient, deciding to quit and go back to college so that he can open a

sex shop A sex shop is a retailer that sells products related to adult sexual or erotic entertainment, such as sex toys, lingerie, pornography, and other related products. An early precursor of the modern sex shop was a chain of stores set up in t ...

. Although the loss of income means that Ben will have to quit and return to being a nurse, he agrees to do so in order to help Arthur pursue his dream. To finance his education, Arthur meets his estranged brother, Victor, whom he has not spoken to for seven years. Victor is a religious fanatic who believes that Arthur's homosexuality is a sign of demonic possession, despite being flamboyant and seemingly gay. Although Victor lashes out at Arthur for his failure to turn straight, he nonetheless offers to give Arthur money for college if he will bring Ben by the apartment and allow him to

evangelize In Christianity, evangelism (or witnessing) is the act of preaching the gospel with the intention of sharing the message and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians who specialize in evangelism are often known as evangelists, whether they are in ...

. Meanwhile, the couple hires an attorney to consult for advice on getting married. She advises that they travel to

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

, be wed in a

civil union A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...

, and then return and attempt to be recognized as members of a domestic partnership. In Vermont, the two are wed privately. Suspicious, Victor hires a

private investigator A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI and informally called a private eye), a private detective, or inquiry agent is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigators of ...

to tail Ben and Arthur and learns of their marriage. He follows the attorney home and shoots her dead. Meanwhile, Tammy visits Arthur's apartment with a gun, but Ben takes it and throws her out. Learning about their attorney's death, Ben and Arthur agree to come to Victor's apartment. Unexpectedly, Victor and another congregant from his church, Stan, outpour homophobic insults. They then secretly devise a plan to

exorcise Exorcism () is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be ...

the couple using homemade

holy water Holy water is water that has been blessed by a member of the clergy or a religious figure, or derived from a well or spring considered holy. The use for cleansing prior to a baptism and spiritual cleansing is common in several religions, from ...

. The plot fails, and the couple enjoys a honeymoon in Hawaii. Victor's priest Father Rabin informs that he is being

excommunicated Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...

because the congregation does not want the relative of a gay person attending church services, fearful that he will bring them bad karma and

negative energy Negative energy is a concept used in physics to explain the nature of certain fields, including the gravitational field and various quantum field effects. Gravitational potential energy Gravitational potential energy can be defined as being n ...

. Upon request, Stan helps Victor convince Father Rabin to undo his decision if he can murder Ben and Arthur. They hire the

hitman Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may ...

Scott, whom Father Rabin has used to kill gay people. Upon arrival, Ben is gay bashed by Victor and Scott; the attack hospitalizes him. Suspecting his brother's involvement, Arthur breaks into Victor's apartment and taps his phone. After intercepting a call implicating Victor and Father Rabin, Arthur goes to Victor's church, chloroforms Father Rabin, and burns the church down. When Ben recovers, Arthur takes him back home. Deciding to be more radical, Victor and Scott go to the couple's apartment with guns; at the last minute, Victor tells Scott that he wants to kill them himself and sends him away. Victor shoots Ben dead, and then forces Arthur to strip naked at gunpoint, performing an impromptu

baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...

in the bathtub. While Victor contemplates what he has done, Arthur slips away and gets Tammy's gun from Ben. A hysterical Arthur propositions Victor while holding him at gunpoint, accusing him of self-directed homophobia. When Arthur fires a

warning shot In military and police contexts, a warning shot is an intentionally harmless artillery shot or gunshot with intent to enact direct compliance and order to a hostile perpetrator or enemy forces. It is recognized as signalling intended confronta ...

, Victor shoots Arthur several times. In turn, Arthur manages to shoot Victor in the forehead and kill him, before Arthur dies of his own wounds.

Cast

* Sam Mraovich as Arthur Sailes * Jamie Brett Gabel as Ben Sheets * Michael Haboush as Victor Sailes * Bill Hindley as Father Rabin * Julie M. Zimmerman as Tammy Sheets (billed as Julie Belknap) * Gina Aguilar as Attorney * Arthur Huber as Private Investigator, Justin Abraham * Oto Brezina as Priest * Richard Hitchcock as Stan * Bruce Lurie as Agent Moreen * Buck Elkin as Bar Owner * Nick Bennet as Scott * Loretta Altman as Mildread * Holly Mraovich as Grocery Lady

Production and release

Sam Mraovich assumed most of the film's production and creative duties; in addition to writing, directing, and starring in the film, he also handled

cinematography Cinematography (from ancient Greek κίνημα, ''kìnema'' "movement" and γράφειν, ''gràphein'' "to write") is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens to foc ...

duties, scored the film, and edited it. Aside from Mraovich's compositions, the film also contains public domain recordings of Scott Joplin's " The Entertainer" and Johann Pachelbel's '' Canon in D'', which play over the opening and closing credits, respectively. The original script featured a female antagonist named Victoria, as opposed to a male antagonist named Victor. Some of Victor's lines are still listed as belonging to "Victoria" in the film's final shooting script, although any references to her relationship with Arthur have been excised. Following the film's release, Sam Mraovich received numerous complaints that, although ostensibly a homophobe, the character of Victor is not only played by a gay actor but is portrayed as flamboyantly gay in the film. Mraovich responded by saying that the casting and direction were intentional, and meant to convey that Victor is a self-loathing gay man in the vein of James McGreevey: The film premiered at the Sunset 5 theater in West Hollywood. It was released on Region 1 DVD in the United States in early 2003 and was rereleased on January 24, 2018, through Amazon Prime as the former is out of print and expensive to buy. , the film has only earned $40,000, making it a box office bomb.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

' editorial staff ranked it #15 on their list of "Films So Bad They're Unmissable", stating "If

Tommy Wiseau Thomas P. Wiseau ( or ) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for writing, producing, directing, and starring in the 2003 film '' The Room'', which has been described by many critics as one of the worst films ever made and has gaine ...

's ''

The Room ''The Room'' is a 2003 American drama film written, produced, executive produced and directed by Tommy Wiseau, who stars in the film alongside Juliette Danielle and Greg Sestero. The film centers on a melodramatic love triangle between amia ...

'' is the over-wrought, melodramatic and self-pitying heterosexual camp classic of choice, then Sam Mraovich's ''Ben & Arthur'' is its gay equivalent."

went on to cite the poor production values and Arthur's "hissy fits", concluding that the quality of the film was so poor that "Mraovich might as well have shot his story of gay persecution and fightback on a cell phone". Pop culture review site ''insert-disc'' likewise compared it to ''The Room'', stating "''The Room'' was better than this. The acting, special effects, music, and writing are bad even compared to 'The Room.'" ''

Total Film ''Total Film'' is a British film magazine published 13 times a year (published monthly and a summer issue is added every year since issue 91, 2004, which is published between July and August issue) by Future Publishing. The magazine was launched ...

'' included ''Ben and Arthur'' in their list of the 66 worst films of all time.

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

reviews have been also negative. One review wrote, "I rarely get angry at a movie, this is an exception." The film also took particular criticism from the gay community: The gay pop culture site Queerty called it "the worst gay movie ever", only to later retract the "gay" qualifier and simply declare it the worst in general. The gay film review site Cinemaqueer likewise indicated that it was the worst film to have ever been featured on the site, suggesting that the film was too bad to even be parodied on '' Mystery Science Theater 3000''.9 dead gay guys/ben & arthur
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References

External links