History YMMV / BenandArthur

** Ben to a lesser extent; he comes across as a fairly decent guy overall, but his admission of having affairs with other men behind his then-wife's back really doesn't help.

** Arthur. You can ''sorta'' sympathize with him in spite of his bitchy, narcissistic behavior... at least until he [[spoiler:torches a priest alive, though in Arthur's defense, the priest was a homophobic asshole who was trying to kill arthur himself.]]. Not to mention that at the climax we're supposed to be angry at Victor for shooting Arthur while the latter tries to [[spoiler:''rape him'']].

* SoBadItsGood: The movie has gained a fandom among bad movie connoisseurs for its laughably bad acting, badly written plot and characters, corny music, and unintentional comedy, to the point of being hailed as "the LGBT version of ''Film/TheRoom''".

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: All the characters are either whiny, psychotic, violent, or just plain unbearable. You'd rather see them all die than live by the end of the movie.

* SoBadItsGood: Despite how bad the movie is, it has still earned its fans who like it for its laughably bad acting, badly written plot and characters, corny music, and unintentional comedy. It's often referred to as "the LGBT version of ''Film/TheRoom''".
* SpecialEffectsFailure: The film has almost zero need for effects to begin with, but the gunshots are consistently done with.....well, nothing. There's zero muzzle flash, recoil, or slide movement (with one instance of smoke, appearing after a cutaway and obviously some kind of burning object stuffed in the barrel of the gun), extremely poor sound effects that fail to remain consistent with the same gun, and either [[BloodlessCarnage no wounds at all]] or bullet wounds that only appear after a cut to a different angle. This creates a rather amusing cut where [[spoiler: Victor has no visible mark when shot in the head and stumbling back into the blinds, but after a cutaway for two seconds his face is suddenly ''drenched'' in blood.]] It seems like guns in the ''Ben & Arthur'' universe run on magic, and pulling the trigger simply causes people to fall over dead.

* AllThereInTheManual: Victor being a closeted homosexual is never mentioned or even implied in the movie, and the only reason we know he is gay is because [[WordOfGod Sam Mraovich]] said so in an interview.

** Ben to a lesser extent; he comes across as a fairly decent guy overall, but his admission of having affairs with other men behind his then-wife's back really doesn't help. Though to be fair, his wife was pretty crazy and controlling, so it's hard to blame Ben for doing so.

* {{Anvilicious}}: Religion and the law shouldn't get in the way of gay marriage. This could have been a case of SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped if it wasn't so clumsily delivered in a ridiculously over-the-top manner.

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** At one point, Ben punches Arthur so hard that he's knocked unconscious and gets a nosebleed. His justification is that he deserved it for "saying stupid things". [[DomesticAbuse What a great lesson for viewers]] [[SarcasmMode amirite?]]

* {{Narm}}: Sam Mraovich clearly wanted this to be a dramatic and tragic romance. So say this movie falls short of that would be a gentle understatement.
* SoBadItsGood: Despite how bad the movie is, it has still earned its fans who like it for its laughably bad acting, badly written plot and characters, corny music, and unintentional comedy.

* EightDeadlyWords: As mentioned above, the lack of any likable characters is another criticism the film received.

** Arthur. You can ''sorta'' sympathize with him in spite of his bitchy, narcissistic behavior... at least until he [[spoiler:torches a priest alive]]. Not to mention that at the climax we're supposed to be angry at Victor for shooting Arthur while the latter tries to [[spoiler:''rape him'']].

* SoBadItsGood: Despite how bad the movie is, it has still earned its fans who like it for its laughably bad acting, badly written plot and characters, corny music and unintentional comedy.

** With the option to marry Arthur in Hawaii now gone, Ben mentions to Tammy that he and Arthur can marry in Vermont instead, as a means to dismiss Tammy's claim that "men can't get married in the United States". Vermont allowed same-sex civil unions in 2000, while the film was released in 2002; as Creator/AllisonPregler noted, same-sex marriage was not possible in Vermont until 2009.

* EightDeadlyWords: Characters are either whiny, psycho, violent, or just plain unbearable. You'd rather see them all die than live by the end of the movie.

* SoBadItsGood: Despite how bad the movie is, it has still earned its fans who like it for its laughably bad acting, childish characters, corny music and unintentional comedy.

** There are only three female characters in the film; Mildred, who comes across as rather unpleasant, Tammy, who is a complete whackjob, and Ben and Arthur's attorney, who [[spoiler:gets StuffedIntoTheFridge and then is never mentioned again]].

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: It's hard to know whether we're supposed to sympathise with Ben or Arthur over the aforementioned punching incident, but neither of them comes out of it looking good. While Ben was clearly at fault for resorting to violence and then [[WhyDidYouMakeMeHitYou blaming it on Arthur]], Arthur himself had reacted to Ben's somewhat justified rebuke for failing to lock up their bike (which Ben nonetheless apologized for straight away) with a completely unfair accusation that Ben is ashamed of his sexual orientation and wouldn't give two shits if Arthur died. The end result is that Ben appears sorely in need of anger management classes, while Arthur comes across as an emotionally immature DramaQueen.

** In Arthur's bizarrely hypothetical speech about him being drafted and dying for a nation that won't allow him to be married doesn't make any sense, since at the time of the film's release, gay men were not allowed to serve openly in the US military under Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Why exactly they felt the need to make something up, when the reality (the US Military will discriminate based on your sexual orientation) is actually much, much worse is a mystery.

* CriticalResearchFailure: With the option to marry Arthur in Hawaii now gone, Ben mentions to Tammy that he and Arthur can marry in Vermont instead, as a means to dismiss Tammy's claim that "men can't get married in the United States". Vermont allowed same-sex civil unions in 2000, while the film was released in 2002; as Creator/AllisonPregler noted, same-sex marriage was not possible in Vermont until 2009.

* DesignatedHero: Arthur. You can ''sorta'' sympathize with him in spite of his bitchy, narcissistic behavior... at least until he [[spoiler:torches a priest alive]]. Not to mention that at the climax we're supposed to be angry at Victor for shooting Arthur while the latter tries to [[spoiler:''rape him'']].

** Ben to a lesser extent; he comes across as a fairly decent guy overall, but his admission of having affairs with other men behind his then-wife's back really doesn't help.

* DesignatedHero: Arthur. You can ''sorta'' sympathize with him in spite of his bitchy, narcissistic behavior... at least until he [[spoiler:torches a priest alive]].

** Not to mention that at the climax we're supposed to be angry at Victor for shooting Arthur while the latter tries to [[spoiler:''rape him'']].

* DesignatedHero: Arthur. You can ''sorta'' sympathize with him in spite of his bitchy, narcissistic behavior... at least until he [[spoiler:torches a priest alive]]. Ben to a lesser extent; he comes across as a fairly decent guy overall, but his admission of having affairs with other men behind his then-wife's back really doesn't help.

** In Arthur's bizarrely hypothetical speech about him being drafted and dying for a nation that won't allow him to be married doesn't make any sense, since at the time of the film's release, gay men were not allowed to serve openly in the US military under Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Why exactly they felt the need to make something up, when the reality- the US Military will discriminate based on your sexual orientation- is actually much, much worse is a mystery.
* DesignatedHero: Arthur. You can ''sorta'' sympathise with him in spite of his bitchy, narcissistic behavior... at least until he [[spoiler:torches a priest alive]]. Ben to a lesser extent; he comes across as a fairly decent guy overall, but his admission of having affairs with other men behind his then-wife's back really doesn't help.

** Most comparisons between this film and ''Film/TheRoom'' (which was written and apparently shot before this film, but released afterwards) tend to refer to their mutual incompetence and anviliciousness, but the two films have a surprising amount in common:

*** Both films have terrible leading actor-writer-directors, who are fond of showing off their bodies much more so than most audience members are fond of seeing them. Unlike Tommy Wiseau, Sam Mraovich is credited in nearly ''every'' aspect of production, including editing, cinematography, and even the musical score.

** The film unambiguously presents organized religion as the absolute enemy of LBGT rights: after making the movie Sam Mraovich converted to the Church of Latter Day Saints.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: It's hard to know whether we're supposed to sympathise with Ben or Arthur over the aforementioned punching incident, but neither of them comes out of it looking good. While Ben was clearly at fault for resorting to violence and then blaming it on Arthur, Arthur himself had reacted to Ben's somewhat justified rebuke for failing to lock up their bike (which Ben nonetheless apologized for straight away) with a completely unfair accusation that Ben is ashamed of his sexual orientation and wouldn't give two shits if Arthur died. The end result is that Ben appears sorely in need of anger management classes, while Arthur comes across as an emotionally immature DramaQueen.

*** The film unambiguously presents organized religion as the absolute enemy of LBGT rights: after making the movie Sam Mraovich converted to the Church of Latter Day Saints.

* HilariousInHindsight: Most comparisons between this film and ''Film/TheRoom'' (which was written and apparently shot before this film, but released afterwards) tend to refer to their mutual incompetence and anviliciousness, but the two films have a surprising amount in common:
** Both films take place in one of the two largest cities of California (Los Angeles in this film, San Francisco in ''The Room''), with the primary setting in each film being the apartment of its male lead.
** Both films have terrible leading actor-writer-directors, who are fond of showing off their bodies much more so than most audience members are fond of seeing them. Unlike Tommy Wiseau, Sam Mraovich is credited in nearly ''every'' aspect of production, including editing, cinematography, and even the musical score.
** Both films depict everyone bar the leading guy and one other male character (Ben in this film, and Peter in ''The Room'') as being evil bastards.
** A wedding is an important plot point in both films; in ''The Room'' the wedding never actually happens, while in this film the wedding '''does''' technically happen, but isn't recognized by the state of California.
** Each film features a main character obtaining a pistol during a BigLippedAlligatorMoment, and the pistol in question is used to take someone's life at the end of the film.
** Both films have a DownerEnding, with [[spoiler:the saintly protagonist meeting his untimely demise at the hands of a gun]].
** The film unambiguously presents organized religion as the absolute enemy of LBGT rights: after making the movie Sam Mraovich converted to the Church of Latter Day Saints.

** The film unambiguously presents organized religion as the absolute enemy of LBGT rights: after making the Sam Mraovich converted to the Church of Latter Day Saints.

** In fairness, the attorney ''does'' clarify the matter by stating that Ben and Arthur attained a civil union in Vermont, not a marriage. However, this comes ''after'' Ben and Arthur already made the trip to Vermont. Considering that the two protagonists are serious about ''legally'' consummating their relationship through ''marriage'' (not to mention that a trip to any other state that allows same-sex marriage would certainly prove expensive for two paper cup washers at a café), [[FridgeLogic shouldn't the two of them have known beforehand]] that they would only get a ''civil union'' in Vermont, not a full-fledged marriage license?
** In fact, Ben and Arthur should have been told as much the moment they ''walked into a Vermont town clerk office and spoke with the appropriate personnel'', who would have had no choice but to correct them and state that a civil union was their only option.