Turning a dream into a career is frequently viewed as romantic and passionate — if it involves something epic like curing cancer or winning the Super Bowl. Those dreams feature skills we may have once coveted, and they come with rewards we can appreciate.
In “Dumbstruck,” director Mark Goffman follows five people pursing their passion for ventriloquism. A dream is a dream is a dream, right? Uh, no. Frequently the subjects’ aspirations get dismissed as a waste of time. This isn’t done by callous strangers or unfeeling audience members, but by family. Goffman refuses to join the fray, and his restraint is what makes “Dumbstruck” such a wonderful film.
We initially meet everyone via the annual Vent Haven Convention in Ft. Mitchell, Ky. 13-year-old Dylan, who is white, sheds his shy demeanor when giving voice to his wisecracking dummy, which is black. His father, who can’t see the social benefits, prefers that his broomstick-thin son play football. Former beauty queen Kim dreams of ascending to ventriloquism’s big time: Cruise ships. Her mother would like for her to drop the puppets and pick up a man.
Dan, a respected veteran, struggles to balance family with his non-stop work schedule. Wilma, shunned by her family and behind on her taxes, views ventriloquism (and its community of practitioners) as her salvation. Then there’s Terry Fator, who after 20 years of professional failure, became a Las Vegas sensation when he won TV’s “America’s Got Talent.”
It would have been so easy for a director to mercilessly parody the kooks like a nonfiction Christopher Guest. But Goffman, a TV veteran (“White Collar,” “The West Wing”) making his feature-film directorial debut, treats his subjects with compassion and respect. We care about these people. Dan wants to spend more time at home, but being a ventriloquist isn’t just profitable, it’s the only thing he knows. Despite her bubbly fa�ade, Kim is determined and ambitious. That she’s not quite at Dan or Terry’s level — plus she possesses worse luck than a Cubs fan — makes you worry if she’ll ever get that cruise ship gig.
Then again, success has its price. She could end up like Dan, so successful that his personal life is compromised. After national success and millions of dollars, Fator still can’t get his father — who never supported his entertainment streak — to attend one of his shows. Poignant and crowd-pleasing, “Dumbstruck” is really about the difficulty of trying to make an unconventional dream come true.
Rating: W W W W
| Tweet | Follow @wkdr |
|
|
