Ball of Wax

Running time: N/A

World Premiere - Bret Packard is an American hero. He's rich, famous, and the best baseball player in the world. But Bret is bored. With nothing left in baseball to conquer, Bret has decided to play a new game in which only he will come out the winner. Bret's best friend on the team is Tod, who fears a young pitcher, Ricky, is being groomed to replace him. Bret offers Tod a deal-if Tod hits more batters than Ricky, Bret will insure that Ricky is traded. Deviously, however, Bret has a counter deal with Ricky-thus initiating a string of malicious contests in which teammates are pitted against each other in hopes of power, respect, and money-and in some cases, the complete destruction of their teammates. As dissension and distrust start to swell around the team, Bret-the malevolent puppet master he is-couldn't be happier. And by the time his teammates and family realize their lives must be taken back, it may very well be too late. Mark Mench makes his debut as Bret Packard, a terrifying man consumed by greed, envy, guilt, paranoia, and anger. Much more than a baseball story, director Daniel Kraus' debut feature reveals that it is better to look at the man himself before we blindly worship our heroes. - Sandy Wolf