‘Ben-Hur’ stands in Wyler epic shadow – Studio hopes wheels don’t come off chariot epic

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Remaking a film that won 11 Academy Awards invites inevitable comparison, but the latest adaptation of “Ben-Hur” distinguishes itself from William Wyler’s 1959 epic by retooling key character and story elements. It’s still a big, biblical-era tale of power, loyalty and vengeance, only refocused through rose-colored lenses with an eye toward appealing to the lucrative faith-based audience. Produced by the power couple behind “The Bible” miniseries, Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, this “Ben-Hur” is like an abbreviated, more Christ-centered take on Wyler’s film. It boasts similar sweeping desert landscapes, well-dressed Roman armies and heart-pounding equestrian action.

Some shots pay clear homage to the Oscar-winning classic. The violence here is far more graphic, thanks to modern special effects (and sensibilities). This film is also an hour and 40 minutes shorter than Wyler’s epic (thank goodness). But where Wyler’s version is ultimately about family and unrequited romance, director Timur Bekmambetov is more interested in redemption and the words of Jesus Christ. Jesus was silent and his face unseen in Wyler’s film.

Played handsomely by Rodrigo Santoro, Jesus has a lot to say here. Screenwriters Keith Clarke and Oscar winner John Ridley (“12 Years a Slave”) start with the premise and characters from the original 1880 novel. Judah Ben-Hur (Jack Huston) and Messala (Toby Kebbell) are like brothers until Messala becomes a Roman officer who falsely accuses Judah of betrayal. Messala condemns Judah to slavery and jails his innocent mother and sister.

After years of captivity and an unlikely escape, Judah befriends a horseman who insists he exact vengeance against Messala during the celebrated Roman chariot race. The action of that horse race is just as thrilling and exquisitely choreographed as any present-day movie car chase. It’s as intense as Wyler’s, though more visceral. Advances in filmmaking and animal training mean the falls are more dramatic and the injuries more gruesome and vivid.

Magnificent
The sprawling sets of Roman amphitheaters and hillside villages are as sumptuous here as in Wyler’s film, but somehow less magnifi- cent. In the age of the “Hunger Games” and ever-present CGI, massive scale just doesn’t have the impact it once did. Beyond that basic framework, the writers have taken many creative liberties with the source material.

There’s no yearning romance between Judah and Esther (Nazanin Boniadi) as in the original story — or even between Judah and Messala, as in the 1959 film. Judah and Esther are married early in the first act of this “Ben-Hur,” and there’s none of the homoerotic hinting Charlton Heston’s Judah and Steven Boyd’s Messala shared in Wyler’s film. Here, the men’s brotherly bond trumps romance. The role of Sheik Ilderim, which won Hugh Griffith a supporting actor Oscar, was expanded here for Morgan Freeman. Unfortunately, the character’s humor was removed in the process.

A welcome addition to any cast, Freeman is out of place in this fl atly drawn part, and not just because he’s the only one who doesn’t use a British accent. Why do characters in biblical dramas speak with British accents, anyway? Speaking of creative liberties, Messala follows an unexpected trajectory here that exists neither in the original novel or Wyler adaptation. To say more would be a spoiler. The music that plays such a significant role as to be a character itself (and an Academy Award winner) in Wyler’s “Ben-Hur” fades into the background here, save for Andra Day’s original song “The Only Way Out,” which plays over the closing credits.

This film bests other recent biblical dramas with more inclusive casting. Besides Freeman, there are several other actors of color, though Judah and Messala are both played by white Britons. Ridley Scott’s 2014 biblical epic “Exodus” which similarly pits brother against brother, was widely criticized for its overwhelmingly white cast. The message here, though, is a good and timely one, coming straight from Jesus: Lay down your arms and love your enemy.

“Ghostbusters” and “The Jungle Book” may have been hard acts to follow, but a new blockbuster attempts to repurpose the biggest Hollywood behemoth of them all — the chariot-racing epic “Ben-Hur.” Paramount — still reeling from the unmitigated failure of “Zoolander 2” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows,” not to mention an underwhelming return on “Star Trek Beyond” — is banking on a hit. But analysts fear the fourth attempt at this milestone in movie history will hit the rocks on its release on Friday, with a cast too obscure to draw in box office numbers justifying its $100 million budget.

Remake
Early reviews of the film, starring British actors Jack Huston and Toby Kebbell, have been lukewarm, with Variety describing Timur Bekmambetov’s remake as “sludgy and plodding” and various media dubbing it “Chariots of Misfire” or “Chariots of Mire.” Jeff Bock, a box office analyst at industry data tracker Exhibitor Relations, notes that the latest iteration of the Biblical epic will have to contend not only with reboot fatigue, but with the success of William Wyler’s much loved 1959 opus. “When you’re up against that, you have to over-perform on every level, and at the end of the day, actually make a better film to win over audiences,” he told AFP, predicting a disappointing opening weekend take of $20 million at most. “The William Wyler version is still one of the best the genre has to offer and, unfortunately, the new version won’t be able to compare, nor last the test of time.”

MGM’s 1959 take on the story of brotherly revenge, Christian forgiveness and chariot racing is indeed considered a classic, but it too had the weight of history on its shoulders. The story began with Lew Wallace’s bestselling 1880 novel “Ben-Hur” adapted into a stage play which ran for 25 years. It was turned into a 15-minute 1907 silent film before Fred Niblo’s $4 million silent 1925 production, also financed by MGM and the most expensive movie ever made at the time. Some of the biggest names in Hollywood turned up at MGM’s lot in Culver City, California, to appear as extras in the crowd scenes, including Joan Crawford, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks. Wyler’s update 34 years later, starring Charlton Heston as the betrayed Jewish prince turned galley slave Judah Ben-Hur, was made for $15 million, again a bigger budget than anything that had come before. It lived up to expectations however and was hailed a masterpiece, picking up 11 Oscars and going on to make more than $75 million in North America alone.

“Even people who haven’t seen ‘Ben-Hur’ can identify that it’s the movie that has the amazing chariot race,” he said, acknowledging the history weighing on the film. The 56-year-old multiple Emmy and Golden Globe nominated actress is entrenched in America’s Catholic community with husband and co-producer Mark Burnett, and the couple are known for religious programming including 2013 miniseries “The Bible.” “Over the next 30 years, millions and millions of people will see ‘Ben-Hur’ and take away that thought of ‘let’s forgive someone.’ That would be so great,” Burnett said. (Agencies)

By Sandy Cohen

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