Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic
First to Finish: A Review of Ben-Hur

First to Finish: A Review of Ben-Hur

Last updated on: August 19, 2016 at 5:17 pm by Mary Pezzulo

First to Finish: A Review of Ben-Hur 2016-08-19T17:17:55-04:00 Mary Pezzulo

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Ben-Hur_poster_goldposter_com_8.jpg@0o_0l_800w_80q

(Image: the official poster for the 2016 re-make of Ben-Hur, used in accordance with fair use principles for the purpose of a film review.)

Do me a favor: think back to every faith-based film you’ve seen in the past two decades. Any film that was produced, marketed or encouraged by Christian folks because it had Christ in it, or portrayed a Christian message wholesomely. All right, now think back to the ones that were actually fun. Films you’d watch again, not because of the Christian message or in order to financially support the faith-based film industry, but because you had a good time. Films you’d show to your atheist or agnostic friends, people who only knew of Christ as an historic or mythic figure, and those friends would not feel cheated at the end. Now, count on your fingers the number of genuinely fun, watchable and entertaining faith-based films you’ve seen from the past two decades. Hold your fingers up to the screen for me. How many are you holding up?

Me neither.

Bear that in mind when I tell you: MGM’s re-make of Ben Hur, which opened today, is pretty good. It’s fun. I’d watch it again even if I weren’t being paid. Is it the best movie I’ve ever seen? Well, no. Not by a long shot. Is it cheesy? Fairly, particularly in the ending. Is there any reason you’d want to watch this film rather than the original?In all honesty, I suppose not. But it’s fun. It’s a fun day at the movies. I was at the edge of my seat. Everyone did what they were supposed to do to entertain me without completely obscuring the wholesome moral lesson, and the wholesome moral lesson did not get in the way of a good time. It succeeds where other recent faith-based films usually fail, in that it looks professional, and it’s entertaining.

How often do I get to say that?

Ben Hur is, more or less, a non-Italian Peplum: that is, a bombastic and over-the-top big-budget film loosely based on a Biblical or Greco-Roman story, featuring muscular men in tunics, stagy acting, graphic violence, beautiful women in historically inaccurate jewels, and lavish visuals. Peplums were all the rage in the 1950s and 60s, but have fallen into disfavor since then. When a Peplum is good, it’s fantastic campy fun; when it’s bad, it devolves into pornography or MST3K-worthy cheese at an alarming rate. I would place the 2016 re-make of Ben-Hur squarely in the category of a good Peplum. There was plenty to snicker at but very little to hate, with the exception of the 3-D visuals. See the movie in 2-D if you possibly can; the 3-D effects were exceptionally cheap and looked like a pop-up book. The visuals of the film itself were fine, just save two dollars and don’t go to a 3-D showing.

Ben-Hur tells the story of Judah (played by Jack Huston), a Jewish aristocrat in Roman-occupied Jerusalem where everyone speaks English with a snooty English accent except for Iderim the chariot gambler, who is played by Morgan Freeman and speaks English with a distinct American accent; and Jesus of Nazareth, whose accent I can’t place– Scottish, perhaps. Judah is falsely accused of attempting to assassinate Pontius Pilate. He’s condemned to a horrendous slow death rowing a Roman galley by his adopted brother, the Roman soldier Messala. Judah manages to escape after five years and a convenient well-choreographed sea battle. When he makes it back to Jerusalem, he finds his wife (Nazanin Boniadi) is alive and well and has spent the past five years following Jesus and carefully maintaining her flawless eyebrows. His mother and sister, however, have come down with leprosy. They are rotting away in a prison that happens to be in a cave underneath Calvary Hill, which certainly won’t become a plot point at the film’s climax. Judah finds that his only chance for vengeance and freedom is to face his brother in an epic and gory Roman chariot race; his only chance at redemption, however, lies at the feet of the crucified Christ.

As a Peplum and a faith-based film, Ben-Hur doesn’t leave too much to be desired. The characters are over-the-top but largely played well. Rodrigo Santoro in particular manages to strike an excellent balance between quiet humility and eerie charisma in his performance as Jesus, though they never explain why Jesus is doing carpentry in Jerusalem and not Nazareth during the film’s eight-year stretch. The action sequences are thrilling, with good use of special effects; the violence rings true, yet is portrayed with enough restraint that the film is appropriate for adults and teens to see together. The sheer number of convenient plot coincidences is hard to swallow but entertaining. The moral message of forgiveness and loving one’s enemy is laid on rather thick, truth be told, but thanks to Santoro’s dignified performance it doesn’t sink the film entirely. Yes, I was rolling my eyes at the happy ending, but I wasn’t jaded. If you expect gripping realism without a hint of Hollywood cheese, you should ask yourself why you’re seeing a faith-based Peplum in the first place.

Altogether I’d say that, particularly considering the dearth of entertaining faith-based films availiable, Ben-Hur is something of a wonder. It’s well-worth your time to give it a look.

Previous Post

August 17, 2016

Things I Learned on the Internet This Week (ish)... Third Week of August, 2016

Next Post

August 20, 2016 Against The Normalcy of Catholic Culture

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abortion Abuse Advent America American Christianity angel angels Annunciation Appalachia apparition apparition chaser apparition chasers apparition culture art art review babies baby baby Jesus Bad Lip Reading bad statue contest bath beauty Bible story blog blogkeeping blood book review Brandon Sanderson breastfeeding bus Catholic catholic conspiracy alarmism Catholic Oppositional Disorder Charismatic Renewal Charlie the Cat chastity Christ Christian idenitity Christianity and Judaism Chronic Illness clean clothing COD piece comedy compassion conscience conspiracy theory conversion cop-on-black violence Crucifixion cry of the poor culture Daesh Daily Saints death death penalty devotional diaconate diaper diapers dirty disability Donald Trump Dorothy Day dream drugs Eastern Catholicism Eastern Christianity education election election update Elsewhere on Patheos empathy environment Fear feminism film review fish flashback fluffy buns food Franciscan University of Steubenville Friendship Room fun Gabriel gardening gospel hair-splitting Heaven hell heresy Hillary Clinton history Holly the Witch Holy Spirit holy war Homeschooling homosexuality horror human dignity humor Icon idol immigrants infection inter-religious dialogue Interpretation of Scripture Islam Jesus Jihad Joseph joy laity and lay vocations lamb dinner laundry lent lgbtq literature love manners Mary Medicine and Science Meditation mercy mess milk misogyny Missouri monasticism monster motherhood mourn with those mourn movies movis music mystery nature neurodiversity New Pro-Life Movement news nonsense nostalgia O antiphons obituary objectification Ohio Valley Ordinary Time ordination Ordo Amoris parable paradox Passover peanut butter personal beliefs pets philosophy Planet Charismatic poetry politics polls poop Pope Francis Pope Leo power in the Church prayer prayer request prayers preferential option for non-violence president presidential election priest primary private revelation pro-life prophecy Public face of Catholicism Pure Flix Q and A race racism random rape rape. sexuality reader's request Reckoners refugee religious trauma ressurrection Right to life Saints saints and celebrations same-sex same-sex marriage satire scandal secular feasts seder Seven Joys Seven Last Words sex sexual ethics sexuality silencing six months skid row slavery social justice Speculative fiction spiritual abuse spoon stain story suffering suffrage suffragette Sunday Gospel temple Tenebrae Responsories Terror the exorcist The Friendship Room The New Pro-Life Movement Things I Learned on the Internet tin cup traffic true story tv review Uncategorized USCCB vice and temptation violence Virtue virtue and vice war Way of the Cross whimsy whole life women's ordination work of mercy Year A

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who was Ruth's first husband?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Mahlon Chilion Elimelech Boaz