The End of the Tour

The End of The Tour was a beautifully done movie that will not be widely seen or even heard of. This movie doesn't have explosions, or side splitting humor, or sex, or anything that sells in Hollywood these days. What this movie does have is a well written plot with fantastic dialogue, a great story, wonderful performances, and thought provoking themes that make you ponder what is really important. The End of The Tour is about the five day interview between Rolling Stone reporter David Lipsky, and acclaimed novelist David Foster Wallace (played by Jesse Eisenberg and Jason Segel). This five day interview took place right after the 1996 publication of Wallace's epic 1,000 page novel called Infinite Jest. An interview that would later turn out to be never published and not really heard about until Wallace's 2008 suicide.

This sounds like a very simple story, but it is much deeper than that. The End of the Tour not only shows the struggles that a writer can have, but it also has many different themes, particularly about jealousy, the sense of betrayal, and how much fame a person could have. All of these themes lead to some very heartbreaking moments, as well as the film talking about the culture that we live in. I don't want to say how, because I'm afraid that I might spoil scenes, for those who have yet to see this movie, but for movie that's nothing more than a conversation between 2 people, it really is consistently engaging, deep, and entertaining.


Another thing that makes this movie work are the lead characters. Jason Segel is incredible as David Foster Wallace, being able to capture some great charisma, making the character likable, but also really doing great, whenever his character starts to get serious. I'm really saying that his performance is completely Oscar worthy, and he should be at lest nominated for Best Actor. Although he may not be as good as Segel, Jesse Eisenberg still holds his own against him, as David Lipsky. The two actors share incredible chemistry, up to the point where you can completely believe their close friendship, as well, as the tension between them.

The best scene in the film - a scene which will probably get Jason Segel an Oscar nomination - consists of Wallace revealing the truth about the heroine addiction to Lipsky and commenting on the worst parts of his life, which is absolutely heartbreaking since the film begins 12 years past the interview with Lipsky getting a call that Wallace has committed suicide. I wasn't sure whether this film would have a clear climax, but I'm glad it did and that Segel's monologues he gives at the climax were very well written with great attention to thought and thematic content.

I read somewhere this film was supposed to be humorous, and it was, but very occasionally. When there was humor though, it was actually very funny. A decent film based on true events, but you should experience Segel's performance as David Foster Wallace.

Overall, The End of the Tour is a perfectly written and expertly acted film that delves into many thought provoking ideas. This is truly one of the years most intriguing and best films, no matter if you have heard of the story or not. For me, despite the diversity of the two films, this and Mad Max are on another level this year. Definitely a must watch.

7.7/10·IMDb
92%·Rotten Tomatoes
82%·Metacritic
8.5/10 Verdict