The Rise of Jordan Peterson (2019)

'The Rise of Jordan Peterson' is a documentary on the controversial Canadian professor and author Jordan Peterson. I first became aware of Mr. Peterson some time around 2017, I had a roommate who was a big fan. I've listened to and watched interviews with and segments of speech's from Mr. Peterson but I've never read his work. There are things about Mr. Peterson I like and things that I don't and I've had an unusually difficult time trying to figure out just how I feel about him. I can't seem to pin him down, though I've persistently felt I'm not getting the whole story from him, like he's holding back and I've never been able to get beyond that. For a time I thought this documentary was probably going to put him in my pro column, but in the last 20 or 30 minutes I was decidedly back in the undecided camp. This is a well done documentary, its thought provoking and they don't shy away from interviewing his critics as well as his friends, some of whom are both at once. The film seems to have been shot in segments in 2015, 2016 and 2018 and focuses on his swift and unexpected rise to celebrity status circa 2017. If you don't know much or anything about Mr. Peterson this is a good introduction, about the only commitment you'll get from me about the man is that he is interesting. ***1/3