Terrance Swords The story of the Yippies is full of compelling and amusing characters, and someone will eventually make an entertaining film just revisiting the hi-jinks and hilarity, cutting away before the bummers start piling up. If wreckage is more to your taste, there's a film to be made of that as well.Left on Purpose isn't either film. It passes that low-hanging fruit for who-knows-what. Initially, it feels familiar, as Mayer reminisces about his youth and the Yippies in their heyday. Mayer is a character far, far removed from his glory days, and it's a bit perplexing at first when the film returns to his glamourless life and very uncertain future instead of lingering in his colorful past.The most compelling documentaries are those in which neither filmmaker, subject, not viewer knows where things are headed. That appears to have created a stressful situation for Schein, as Mayer maneuvers first for control of the film and then for control of the filmmaker. The partnership between the two makes for the great drama of the film. Schein clearly did not set out to make a film about a filmmaker's dilemma, and his discomfort is obvious. It was a stroke of freaking genius and a bold-ass move for Schein to let the film follow the story where it led instead of where he had planned.

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.