Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Left On Purpose is a heart-wrenching study of a man and the choices he makes. Over the progression of the sometimes surprisingly amusing subject the film also becomes a study of the choices a documentary filmmaker must at times make in order to see a project through and what happens when the filmmaker becomes personally intertwined with the subject. Highly recommended as a study of the complexities inherent in the human condition.

This is a beautiful and sensitive film that explores the existential struggles and frustrations of a man who devoted his life to radical politics, as well as probing the loneliness of depression, and the ethics of documentary filmmaking itself. Mayer Vishner, its central character, is captivating— passionate, principled, witty, and suicidal. The filmmaker is transparently introspective about his own role in Vishner's life and fate, and raises questions that will generate important and difficult conversation that most of us are afraid to have. A must see for anyone interested in leftist social movements and the toll such commitments take on the human soul.

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.

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.