Review of Jesse Eisenberg and Jason Segel's THE END OF THE TOUR - Sundance 2015
If you enjoy thought provoking movies that contain lots of good conversation between two interesting characters, then The End of the Tour is the movie for you. The film stars Jesse Eisenberg as Rolling Stone reporter David Lipsky and Jason Segel as acclaimed author David Foster Wallace.
The film is set in 1996 and is based on a true story that follows Lipsky as he embarks on a press tour with Wallace. During his time with him he conducts an in depth interview. While spending time together the two form a bond with each other, but it isn't without its challenges. Wallace is a little uncomfortable with being interviewed, and Lipsky, who is a fan, has to ask him the hard questions that bring a tension between them. They also had some good times along the way though. The interview that was conducted was never published, and all of the audio tapes were packed away in Lipsky's closet. This movie is the first time that we get to see what that interview contained.
Most of the movie revolves around the conversations that the two individuals have with each other during the interview process. They give the audience a lot of various subject matters from depression to the love of the movie Die Hard that can easily get you thinking about life. There are a few profound things in there that really kind of hit me and brought out the emotions. Not just for me but for the rest of the audience as well.
Segel gives the best performance of his career as Wallace, a tall and shaggy guy that lived in the Midwest, who had long hair and wore a bandana. The guy looked more like a roadie than he did a generation-defining novelist. But it was all a part of his charm. He was a guarded yet wise individual who was honest about who he was, and his insecurities. He is portrayed as a man who was conflicted about finding success. It was a complex character with a lot of layers, and Segel pulls it off wonderfully.
Jesse Eisenberg basically plays his awkward self again, but it worked for the part of Lipsky, who wants to find success as a writer, much like Wallace has already found. It makes an interesting parallel, especially since Wallace isn't really sure he wants what he has achieved. One of the last things Wallace tells Lipsky is, "you don't want to be me."
The End of the Tour is a heavy movie, and even though I wasn't familiar with Wallace or his work before I saw it, the movie makes you feel the weight of the loss of the Wallace, who later committed suicide. It did a fantastic job of allowing audiences to get to know the kind of person this man was, both his many positive attributes and also his flaws.
The film hit me in a way that I wasn't expecting in a good way. I'm glad I got a chance to see. Your best chance of getting to see this movie will most likely be on VOD or your local arthouse theater. I don't think it will get a wide release, as it would be a hard film to market. If you get the opportunity to see it though, then take it.
The movie was directed by James Ponsoldt, and here's the synopsis:
In 1996, shortly after the publication of his groundbreaking novel Infinite Jest, acclaimed author David Foster Wallace (Jason Segel) sets off on a five-day interview with Rolling Stone reporter David Lipsky (Jesse Eisenberg). As the days pass, a tenuous yet significant relationship develops between journalist and subject. Lipsky and Wallace bob and weave around each other, revealing as much in what they don’t say as what the say. They share laughs, expose hidden frailties, yet it’s never clear when or to what extent they are being truthful. The interview is never published. Five days of audio tapes are packed away in Lipsky’s closet, and the two men never meet again.
The End of the Tour is based on Lipsky’s critically acclaimed memoir about this unforgettable encounter that he wrote following Wallace’s suicide in 2008.
Deeply emotional, insightful performances from Jason Segel and Jesse Eisenberg lay bare a heartbreaking screenplay by Pulitzer-Prize winner Donald Margulies. Directed with humor and tenderness by Sundance Film Festival veteran James Ponsoldt (The Spectacular Now, Smashed) and befitting the troubled soul of Wallace himself, The End of the Tour is profound, surprising, and compellingly human.