BALL OF WAX A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 2003 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): **
In writer/director Daniel Kraus's uneven black comedy, BALL OF WAX, Bret Packard (Mark Mench), the first baseman for the Carolina Devils is the devil -- not literally, but certainly figuratively -- as his mischief threatens one of the most successful teams in baseball. Acting like a bored athlete who makes way too much money, he is a sexual predator and a general malcontent who undermines his own team.
Bret offers one guy a million dollars if he'll cheat on his wife. Or is it his girlfriend? One of the biggest problems in the needlessly confusing BALL OF WAX is that Mench mumbles his way through large portions of his dialog, causing him to lose his audience. The movie literally lost viewers as well, since I saw more walkouts for this film than any other at this year's Cinequest Film Festival.
Where the movie does find success is in its visuals. When the director lets his actors shut up and let more of the images tell the story, the movie is at its best. These times come mainly off the field. Bret's affair with the family baby sitter (Stephanie Wallace), and the sexual tension with his wife (Traci Dinwiddie) and their friends is as powerful as some of the overwritten baseball scenes are mystifying.
BALL OF WAX is at its best in the simplest scene of all, when Bret confronts the sitter. The parsimonious dialog here lets the action and the visuals tell the story, which they do quite effectively.
If the director can learn from his first film, he could make some good movies. He just needs to learn the value of silence more. Perhaps working from someone else's script would keep him from trying to pack too much into every scene.
BALL OF WAX runs 1:30. It is not rated but would be an R for sex, drugs and some language and would be acceptable for older teenagers.
The film is being shown as part of San Jose's Cinequest Film Festival (www.Cinequest.org), which runs February 27 to March 9, 2003.
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