Sunshine Superman
CNN Films | Release Date: May 22, 2015 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
70
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
17
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
IndieWireJohn AndersonMay 27, 2015
Strauch creates enormous drama from the clips at her disposal — not just the Boenish material, but movie clips and found footage, all of which is deftly handled. Read full review
88
New York PostKyle SmithMay 27, 2015
The exhilarating documentary Sunshine Superman, which melds gorgeous aerial photography of Boenish’s jumps with sublime musical cues, finds in Boenish a kind of poet-adventurer, equal parts pixie and desperado. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyMay 21, 2015
Interviews with Boenish’s wife, Jean, give his life story perspective and heart. Read full review
80
VarietyDennis HarveyMay 27, 2015
First-rate assembly has a real dramatic grip as well as considerable lightheartedness, the obvious standout element being the large chunks of startling freefall and helicopter camera footage, both new and archival. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesMichael RechtshaffenMay 21, 2015
While this buoyant account of his brief but eventful life might feel like a rock climber's "Man on a Wire," the Oscar-winning 2008 documentary about tightrope walker Philippe Petit, director Marah Strauch gives the film an exhilarating uplift of its own. Read full review
80
The DissolveJen ChaneyMay 19, 2015
Sunshine Superman, a portrait of BASE jumping founding father Carl Boenish, effectively captures the irrepressible energy of a man who never tired of taking flying leaps. But it also does something even rarer for the documentary genre: It demands to be shown on an IMAX screen. Read full review
80
Village VoiceSimon AbramsMay 19, 2015
You may not leave Sunshine Superman wanting to emulate Carl and Jean, but you will feel like you've vicariously bonded with them. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianJeff BakerJul 14, 2015
A highlight of Sunshine Superman is archival footage of Boenish attaching a homemade ladder to the side of the cliff, extending it 20 feet out into nothing, climbing out and sitting on a bicycle seat, and facing back toward the cliff with a movie camera. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerMolly EichelMay 29, 2015
Sunshine Superman, named for the Donovan song, is about more than just Boenish. It's about the power of the image, something that Strauch uses to great effect. Read full review
75
Washington PostStephanie MerryMay 28, 2015
Sunshine Superman might seem like a niche story, with its focus on stunts that most people wouldn’t dream of actually doing, but the documentary feels universal. It’s simply an examination of how one man fully embraced life while charting his own path. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreMay 19, 2015
The footage is striking, the memories of the man vivid, and the finale, a tribute to the next phase of the sport, winged suits, which Carl didn’t live to see, still stuns you. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineNick PriggeMay 17, 2015
It depicts counterculture where those stranded outside the barriers of conventional society seek to push past natural boundaries to intermingle with the metaphysical in midair. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeMay 28, 2015
It's a thrill, and one that seriously rewards big-screen viewing. Read full review
70
The New York TimesNeil GenzlingerMay 21, 2015
Glorious daredevilry is wrapped in a slowly evolving ache in Sunshine Superman, a bittersweet documentary about Carl Boenish, who looked at very tall things and saw an opportunity to leap. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleJosh KupeckiJun 10, 2015
Sunshine Superman is at times a bit too reverent with the material, and there are distracting reenactments (à la The Jinx and Man on Wire), some of which seem extraneous, but overall, the film is a sun-kissed tribute to a singular individual. Read full review
67
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerMay 29, 2015
Boenish’s wife, Jean, who trained to jump with him, is interviewed extensively, and, although Strauch doesn’t provide much backstory for her, she emerges as that rarity – a perfect matchup to a seemingly unmatchable man. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyMay 22, 2015
Intermittently compelling but rather unfortunately titled documentary. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsKatherine PushkarMay 21, 2015
An informative, if not engrossing, history of a sport. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternMay 21, 2015
The film, like its subject and everyone who talks about him, is frustratingly short on analysis or insight. It’s as if BASE jumping had been invented and psychology had not. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubKeith UhlichMay 20, 2015
Strauch’s direction, in contrast, is numbingly uninspired, adhering stringently to the Doc. 101 assembly-line template cultivated by the film’s executive producer Alex Gibney. Read full review
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