Greetings again from the darkness. We don’t always know what ignites a particular passion in someone; however, Joe Jennings has the card so many husbands mistakenly play … only his is accurate and beyond debate. Jennings can blame his wife, Sissy, for this decades long passion for ‘camera flying’. Although it was his father who sparked the interest in photography, it was Sissy who first convinced Joe to skydive. The rest is X-Games and cinematography history. Maura Strauch (SUNSHINE SUPERMAN, 2014) and Bryce Leavitt (directorial debut) have found their profile of Joe Jennings to be well-received on the film festival circuit.
Much of the film floats around Jennings’ long-awaited final aerial stunt: successfully executing and shooting four passengers in a car that gets pushed from a plane. Now don’t worry, Jennings has pushed more than 100 cars from planes – he’s the guy to call if you need that filmed, yet he’s struggled for years with the four passengers and having some control of the car free-falling. I doubt many will be surprised at how easy it is to push a car out of an airplane, and how challenging it can be to control the unpredictable fall.
We learn about Jennings’ childhood … one which he admits was “not normal”, including being referred to as “Joe Dirt” by classmates. Still, he found his place after Sissy got him skydiving and he later partnered with remarkable skysurfer Rob Harris – at least until tragedy struck. Jennings is forthright in his comment, “things can go wrong quickly”, and obviously from 12,000 feet above, things going wrong can be catastrophic. The filmmakers utilize some familiar music on the soundtrack, including “Mad World”, Mason Williams, and ELO, but it’s the incredible midair footage (and car flying) that generates the oohs and aahs.
Opening February 27th for a Weeklong Run at LA’s Laemmle Royal
Posted by David Ferguson 
Movie Reviews from the Dark 