Ben and Arthur is a 2002 American romantic-drama film[1] written, directed, and produced by 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.
Ben Sheets and Arthur Sailes are a couple in Los Angeles, desiring to get married, in a time in the USA when gay marriage was illegal in all 50 states. When one state makes gay marriage legal, the couple decide to go there and get married, which creates consequences with Arthur's brother, Victor, who then becomes obsessed with destroying them both.
Cast
Sam Mraovich as Arthur Sailes
Jamie Brett Gabel as Ben Sheets
Michael Haboush as Victor Sailes
Bill Hindley as Rabin
Julie M. Zimmerman as Tammy Sheets (billed as Julie Belknap)
Gina Aguilar as Margaret
Arthur Huber as Justin Abraham, Victor's private investigator
Oto Brezina as the Vermont priest who officiates Ben and Arthur's wedding
Richard Hitchcock as Stan, Victor's friend who helps with his plot against Ben and Arthur
Bruce Lurie as Investigator Morren
Buck Elkin as a bar owner
Nick Bennet as Scott
Loretta Altman as Mildred
Holly Mraovich as a lady in a grocery store scene
Production
Produced and shot in Los Angeles.
Release
The film premiered at the Sunset 5 theater in West Hollywood. As of 2011,[update] the film has only earned $40,000, making it a box office bomb.[2]
Home media
Ben and Arthur was released on Region 1 DVD in the United States by Ariztical Entertainment on April 13, 2004,[3] and was re-released on January 24, 2018, through Amazon Prime, but both are now out of print. On February 1, 2017, the film was made available online to rent or buy on Vimeo through Ariztical Entertainment.[4]
Reception
Rotten Tomatoes' editorial staff ranked it #15 on its list of "Films So Bad They're Unmissable", stating "If Tommy Wiseau's The Room is the over-wrought, melodramatic and self-pitying heterosexual camp classic of choice, then Sam Mraovich's Ben & Arthur is its gay equivalent." Rotten Tomatoes cited 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".[5] 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.'"[6]Total Film included Ben and Arthur on its list of the 66 worst films of all time.[7] Netflix reviews have been negative. One review wrote "I rarely get angry at a movie, this is an exception."[8]
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.[9] The gay film review site Cinemaqueer 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.[10]
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