Dumbstruck (2010)

Dumbstruck: Directed by Mark Goffman. With Bob Ashman, Maria Ashman, Robert J. Ashman, Willie Brown. A humorous and heartfelt story that follows ventriloquists across the United States, Mexican Riviera, Bahamas and Japan, as they pursue their dreams of a career in puppetry.

“This flick chronicles the lives of a group of puppeteers leading up to their attendance of a ventriloquistu0026#39;s convention in Kentucky. The event is barely mentioned throughout the course of the film, however, and when it arrives, it seems merely to have been tacked on as a footnote to the narrative. The only relevance of the convention to the rest of the movie is the impact impersonator/ventriloquist Terry Fatoru0026#39;s sudden fame had on the world of ventriloquism and the hopefuls who inhabit it.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWithout a high-stakes climax to converge on, the thrust of the film relies on the day-to-day grind and gradual reveals of the embattled souls who shoulder the burden of being ventriloquists. The five subjects have varying degrees of success, and suffer fallouts in one way or another from their family and social circles in pursuit of their careers. It becomes immediately clear that for these performers, itu0026#39;s an uphill fight for respect.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI was particularly engaged by the 13 year old boyu0026#39;s story, and his struggles to remain self-assured as his fatheru0026#39;s rejection of his hobby slowly chips away at his confidence.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI also came to appreciate how difficult it is to create the jokes, the act, and different voices of their characters while also being technically proficient in their dummyu0026#39;s manipulation.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOverall highly recommended, and deserving of a much higher rating than itu0026#39;s current one.”