Change Your Image
Citizen_Pain
Reviews
Chasing the Jet Stream (2019)
Self-aggrandizing with its heart in the right spot
I will give the documentary's subject Marc Hauser this: He has his heart in the right place, trying to make alternate energy sources more known. However, in the constraints of this documentary, the whole ecology aspect seems awfully tacked on and more like some sort of publicity stunt for a guy who just wants to jump out of a balloon and fall really fast. The conflict about a "mad man" with a grand ambition is never really resolved or even touched upon in the film. Everyone just kind of agrees with Marc and his plan and therefore, amateurs and non-skydivers never get a feeling of just how dangerous this undertaking actually is.
This makes Chasing the Jet Stream ultimately feel like some kind of vanity project with impressive production value. The work done by Claudio von Planta and his crew is solid, but they were not given too much to work with.
Chasing the Jet Stream is a vanity project that offers some impresive visuals and a look at a man who just really wanted to jump out of a balloon.