“Dumbstruck” is a wonderful little documentary about one year in the lives of several ventriloquists and how they ae trying to do the best they can with their chosen hobby or craft, which happens to be speaking through little dummies. This is a balance, well-made and respectful film about a group of people who are easy to mock, and really it is quite a touching movie filled with people that are pretty easy to like…once you look past the ugly dolls that they keep playing with.

From my original review of “Dumbstruck“ after I saw it at the 2010 Florida Film Festival:

“While Dumbstruck does go into the art of ventriloquism and puppet manipulation, and also shows a bit of what goes into honing a respectable routine, it is the stories of the people themselves that takes center stage. And perhaps it is a testament to how interesting these stories are that the movie feels like it ends a little early. Most of the movie’s subjects, if not all five of them, would have benefited from a little more filming. While the film is chronologically set up to be book ended by Vent Haven conventions, it feels like none of the stories wrap up after a year (with the exception of Terry Fator, who by the end of the film only has one place to go, which is down. And we don’t want that, he seems like a nice fella). Another year of following these people around might have resulted in a little more closure story-wise. Then again, it might haven resulted in more opened ended questions and plot threads. Such is the danger of documentary story telling.”

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