Just as there’s a popular subculture of magicians within the United States, the field of ventriloquism also enjoys a loyal following and has a few stars in its ranks. Dumbstruck takes a look at one such star, Terry Fator, who rose to fame after winning America’s Got Talent, along with four other ventriloquists at different stages in their career. This charming documentary directed by Mark Goffman gives this oft marginalized hobby a voice of its own (though you'll never see its lips move) and relates the struggles of modern ventriloquists trying to take their passion to a professional level. It succeeds in revealing the varying levels of success possible, but not all five of the stories are equally compelling character studies and so the film feels a bit lopsided, something Goffman compensates for by never lingering too long on any one subject’s story.
The first subject, Dan, has found steady work on the cruise ship circuit playing his act for seven to eight months out of the year before returning home to his wife and kids, a situation that has put stress on his marriage. Next is Kim, a former beauty queen hoping to break into the side of the business that Dan has a lock on, only to hit one obstacle after another. The 13-year-old Dylan doesn’t care that his love for ventriloquism has made him a social outcast, he’s dead set on pursuing a career in the business and has begun to seek out opportunities in the performance industry. Though not the brightest star of the group, Wilma dedicates herself to her craft and plays lots of small, unresponsive venues only to find that the low pay has put her in dire financial straits. Finally there’s Terry, the exception to the rule who has begun perfecting his act in anticipation of the 5-year, $100 million contract he signed at the Mirage in Las Vegas where he’s headlining his own show. Though each character clearly loves the art, Dumbstruck makes it clear, painfully so at times, that there is no set path to success as a ventriloquist and each and every one of them has to blaze their own trail, and some will do so better than others.
The paths differ, but then so does the level of talent on display in each story. There’s no denying that Terry is gifted in what he does, as anyone who can belt out a solid rendition of Etta James’s “At Last” without moving their lips and then following up with a solid stretch of comedy has a lot going in their favor in the world of entertainment. Conversely, you have Wilma who seems mostly disconnected from the reality of her situation due to her deep emotional conviction to what she does. She’s not a great ventriloquist, she’s not even very good, but she does it out of a promise made to herself for the sake of her estranged child. As acts with potential long-term futures, Terry, Kim, and Dan command the most interest when they’re on stage and make it hard to care about Dylan or Wilma.
Though it’s interesting to see the social stigma a teenager deals with in pursuing such a hobby, even from his own father, it’s pretty clear, both from watching his act and the professional reaction of a talent scout, that his story isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Similarly, Wilma’s story falls on that uncomfortable line between sadly, delusional and quirky. If she was just a tad bit more aware of her actual situation and laughed at it, you could share in the comedy; unfortunately she’s on the verge of being evicted because she just can’t command any respectable paycheck for her half-baked act, and her tendency to carry around her dummies in public alienates her from all but one of her family members (and even that one sticks around out of a sense of debt for her having helped him get clean).
Two, more compelling characters would have given Dumbstruck better equilibrium, but as is you can’t help but sit there waiting for Dylan and Wilma’s segments to end so you can catch up with Dan, Kim, and Terry, who are talented in the art and whose stories have a lot more emotional heft considering the highs and lows they’re experiencing. It’s clear that Mark Goffman was attempting to capture the lightning in the bottle of such documentaries of Spellbound or the much better Make Believe from earlier this year. To do so requires fleshed out characters all around, and that’s not what Goffman got with his five. As is, it’s two-thirds of a good documentary, and to be fair that’s about enough to at least warrant a viewing.
DVD Bonus Features
A set of deleted scenes and interviews makes up the best extra, and also offers up an answer to a really confusing choice: who is the African-American on the DVD cover? Turns out his name is Willie Nelson and he was completely edited out of the final cut of the film, which is too bad as he’s easily better than both Dylan and Wilma. However it seems like there’s only six minutes of content of him, so that’s probably why he didn’t make the cut, but his presence on the front cover is just absurd. The disc is rounded out with an audio commentary by Goffman, Producer Lindsay Goffman, and DP George Reasner.
"Dumbstruck" is on sale July 19, 2011 and is rated PG. Documentary. Written and directed by Mark Goffman. Starring Terry Fator.
