Bryce Leavitt and Marah Strauch’s Space Cowboy is a story of someone more adventurous than average, hitting all of the marks in capturing the life of daredevil Joe Jennings. It also follows him during his new art piece of skydiving with a balanced car.
In depicting Jennings’ life in Space Cowboy, Leavitt and Strauch include the former’s mental health issues, all of this stemming from the isolation that he felt in childhood which never goes away. Living a life fuller than the average American doesn’t make one immune from loss.
It’s easy to love this documentary as it represents a man dealing with neuroatypical issues. However, there are technical subtleties with Space Cowboy elevating it from the average documentary about sports. For one, it seamlessly incorporates decades worth of archive footage of Jennings’ death defying stunts.
Incorporating anyone who is no longer with us is an equally difficult thing to do. From the go, when we see Rob Harris in Space Cowboy, we know his fate, but Space Cowboy incorporates him with sensitivity, which begins with his introduction in this film.
On a light note, there are other, dumber reasons why I love this documentary about Jennings. I watched my share of X Games and Space Cowboy reminds me of that, as well as the obvious turth that those athletes are older yet, despite difficulties, are thriving.
Space Cowboy encapsulates Jennings’ ethos that sure, life has its side that brings people down, but life is also a good time.
- Rated: NR
- Genre: Documentary
- Release Date: 9/7/2024
- Directed by: Bryce Leavitt, Marah Strauch
- Studio: LLC REV Entertainment Inc, Thank You Pictures
