Part of the TIFF Docs section of the Toronto International Film Festival, I was excited to see Marah Strauch’s new doc, after wowing me many years ago with SUNSHINE SUPERMAN, a doc that opened TIFF Docs back in 2014.
The TIFF Lowdown: You may not know the name Joe Jennings, but you’ve surely seen his work. For decades, he has been jumping out of planes with a movie camera to create jaw-dropping moments for extreme sports shows, TV commercials, and Hollywood blockbusters. Now in his early sixties, he looks back on the triumphs and tragedies that shaped his life as he tries to pull off the aerial stunt he’s never been able to achieve.
Beyond the thrill-seeking, filmmakers Marah Strauch and Bryce Leavitt explore Jennings’ other layers, including how he’s coped with his peers’ fatal accidents, his clinical depression, and balancing work with family. The film teaches us how to reach for the highest heights and how to deal with the pull of gravity.
Reaction: Not to be confused with the 2000 Clint Eastwood movie (and yes, I know the COWBOYS in that movie is plural), filmmaker Marah Strauch along with co-director Bryce Leavitt has created another wonderful and at times overwhelming doc, as we slowly but surely learn about an amazing man named Joe Jennings, who is responsible for a lot of the grand skydiving that we have seen in some big movies over the years. SPACE COWBOY is more about passion and drive behind a person who is so eager to please. And it isn’t also just Joe, but it’s also about the intense personal connections that he made over the years like his best friend and collaborator Rob Harris.
In addition, this movie is worth the price of admission just to see cars fly out of airplanes along with the movie and TV footage. I admired Strauch’s doc SUNSHINE SUPERMAN many years ago and once again she shows incredible love for the material here with a great mix of interviews, footage new and old and even an even-flowing soundtrack of old songs and original score making for such a professional presentation. It also gets extra marks for her crew also doing a lot of very difficult aerial cinematography! This movie does not have a distributor as of yet, but it shouldn’t take very long to get to a theatre near you. Despite being a doc, this really is a big screen experience to enjoy with an audience.
Special thanks to MPRM publicity and TIFF Media for sending along a preview link to screen this movie! Check our social media channels for when this movie gets a release date. For more information about this or any other movie at TIFF, point your browser to www.tiff.net!