Diagonaldi Very well executed

Phonearl Good start, but then it gets ruined

Michelle Ridley The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

Taha Avalos The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

jeff Mayer Vishner - chronic contrarian, man behind the scenes pulling the strings of the Yippie movement, and close friend and associate of Abby Hoffman - is the down and out subject of this documentary by filmmakers Justin Schein and David Mehlman. He's a 60's stalwart, tending a community garden and subsiding in his west village hovel amid decades of memorabilia and detritus, who agrees to have his life chronicled. Midway through the production though, Mayer decides the subject will be about ending his own life. He's an alcoholic, depressed, and lonely, but has passionate and poignant ideas for what a good life should be. His own outlook is bleak and joining the many colleagues who took their own lives seems an inevitability.Tension abounds as the filmmaker must step from behind the camera to increasingly care for Mayer and challenge his beliefs about his end. The film's sad arc is nevertheless well punctuated with ample hilarity and uplifting moments. Mayer is a genuine character bandying about witticisms both critical and self deprecating. His engagement with the camera and his cohort draws the viewer in, as does the film's pirouettes, challenging the conventional documentary format with unconventional features and quandary: Is the filmmaker directing the subject or is the subject coaxing the director to film him? What are the ethics of training a camera on an impending death? Is doc' film still doc' when the filmmaker becomes part of the story. How can an individual so perceptive about life's simple delights, remain so overly attuned to their impossible acquisition instead? Along the way the audience is treated to a healthy injection of fact-finding and history lesson, including run-ins with influential players of the 60's Anti-war movement. I attended a screening of Left on Purpose at the Doc NYC Festival with several of the film's protagonists and family and friends of Mayer Vishner in the audience. In the Q&A session that followed many contributed their own statements of overwhelming pride for Mayer's life and sublime gratitude for the sensitivity and grace with which the filmmakers told his story. This is a beautiful film about life, and lives, and peace and protest, and deserves to be enjoyed by all.

alexis-aurigemma Anyone who has had a grandparent or who has aging parents must watch this film. It's beautifully shot and despite the outcome, has many humorous moments along the way. It does a wonderful job of brining to light something that we as a society are only just starting to talk about: mental illness. But this film takes it a step further and discusses depression within the aging community. Mayer is a wonderful soul and it's a joy and an privilege to learn all the things he has done to try and better the world in the way of the Yippie movement and the counterculture. The relationship between filmmaker and his subject is also a fascinating part of the film that isn't seen much in documentary. The filmmaker is just as much of a character as Mayer in this film. It's about their relationship with one another and their friendship. I also just read online that the film just was released for educational distribution. I believe that's a wonderful outlet for this film in both the psychological sense as well as from a filmmakers perspective.

Amy Harmon This is a deeply moving and original movie on so many levels. At its most fundamental, it's about the relationship between a filmmaker and his subject. I wish this was something more filmmakers addressed as probingly and with as much self-honesty as Justin Schein does here. Where is the ethical borderline between bearing witness and intervention to avert a wrong? But that's just one axis on which this film turns. What if what seems wrong -- in this case, we are talking about the desire of a charismatic, funny, biting and incredibly, overwhelmingly lonely veteran political activist to take is own life -- what if what seems wrong isn't wrong? What if it's both wrong and right? How do you even know? Another review calls the movie "depressing.'' Yet the audience I saw it with burst into laughter at many points. That's because Mayer Vishner, the Yippie leader Schein profiles, is genuinely funny -- we can see why Schein is drawn to him -- and because Schein, often at his wits end, also manages to keep his sense of humor. Parts of the film are hard to watch, yes. It is unflinching. So are its two protagonists. But that is precisely what makes you want to keep seeing more. Final note: The archival footage of Yippie activism and the context in which it rose and fell is amazing in its own right. Highly recommended.

Dirk Johnston Saw this at DOC NYC last fall. Great documentary- the many ethical and academic questions raised through the shifting subject matter & relationship between director and subject when things take a darker & questionable turn are well explored and concisely addressed by the filmmaker. The subject matter & story are inherently very sad and moving, so don't watch if you aren't in the mood for such a film- but Vishner's quick and wry personality allows for some surprising moments of levity throughout. A good film to see for many of it's qualities, but possibly most of all for being a very well executed microcosm of many ethical issues that arise in the world of doc filmmaking, where anything of substance that strays too far from beyond being a vérité film in some respects is bound to cause some controversy in the academic world & beyond.