Weak with a couple of great set pieces and one great performance

Rating: 7/10 (14 July 2002)

For a long while, I've described Ben-Hur as the biggest film that I had not yet seen. Now I have. This is one of those classics whose status has been fading with time, and it's no wonder once you've seen the film. Sure, there are a few scenes that are very memorable, and have become part of our common culture. Who can forget the scenes where Judah Ben-Hur is a slave in the galleys, rowing fiercely as the weaker slaves collapse around him? The music in this scene is what I find particularly memorable. And then there's the chariot race, which I think cements this film as one that is worth seeing more than any other. I also like how the story is constructed, as a side story to the life of Jesus. Christ pops up every once in a while. Early in the film, there is a memorable scene where Christ defies a Roman soldier and gives the parched Ben-Hur water. When the soldier tries to reprimand him, a quick look from Jesus silences him completely. Unfortunately, a whole hell of a lot of the film is very forgettable. Each scene seems to take 25% longer than it really needs to  not only are the scenes protracted far beyond their limitations, but the actors stumble slowly through their lines, as if each and every syllable was carrying the cross on its back. It gets old, and quick. The film has very little passion as it lumbers along. Most of the direction seems lackluster. Big, but mostly lacking heart. William Wyler directed one of the most emotionally touching films of all time, Mrs. Miniver, an utterly intimate affair that will stay with me forever. Ben-Hur often just sat there without trying to connect to the audience at all. The acting itself is generally weak. Charlton Heston's performance is certainly not among his best. I actually like him as an actor, but I don't think it's very good here. To be fair, his performance gets better as the film moves along. Ben-Hur's moral dilemma is intriguing, and as his desire for revenge and violence did ultimately touch me. Many of the other performances are just bad  the one that comes immediately to mind is Haya Harareet as Esther, the slave girl whom Ben-Hur loves and later marries. Martha Scott and Cathy O'Donnell, who play his mother and sister respectively, are too dull to really care too much what happens to them. And I'm disappointed in Sam Jaffe, whom I love as an actor in films such as The Scarlet Empress and Gunga Din. I didn't even recognize him, he has so little energy in this film. Hugh Griffith won an Oscar for playing a sheik, but his character is not memorable at all. The only actor who really hits a home run is Stephen Boyd as Messala, Ben-Hur's childhood friend, now his bitterest enemy. He really projects his inner turmoil. Overall, I say that I am glad that I saw this finally. It may have not worked very well, but I was generally entertained. Not moved at all, but it was nice to watch (and a lot more fun to criticize!). Only the chariot sequence and a couple of Messala's scenes did anything more than that for me. 6/10.