If you are looking to see an entertaining film this weekend, I think it’s safe to say that the latest MISSION IMPOSSIBLE will be your best bet. If you are looking for something to peel back, a movie that requires a little effort to truly appreciate, then THE END OF THE TOUR is just right. It’s a slow film, and consists mainly of two men talking over the course of five days. Through this conversation though, and a flash friendship, topics of insecurity, jealously, addiction, and humankind are explored. THE END OF THE TOUR is not for everybody, but it’s worth exploring just as “Infinite Jest” is.
The film follows David Lipsky (Jessie Eisenberg), a writer for Rolling Stone. After reading “Infinite Jest” he goes to accompany writer David Foster Wallace (Jason Segel) on the last stop of his tour in Minneapolis. He hopes to find a story on the genius that created the most popular book of 1996, or more spectacularly on the addiction or sorrow that lead to the genius. Through the interview the two learn a lot about each other and the differences in their worldviews. Leaving a candy wrapper trail, they discuss what it means to create work and the power struggle that keeps our egos afloat.
Segel is undoubtedly the powerhouse of the film despite the overall message being conveyed in the interactions between the two. Eisenberg’s falls back into his standard awkward laugh and it begins to get draining as the film goes on. Nevertheless his performance is commendable, as his ability to show a slight form of jealousy at Wallace in tiny mannerisms is unmatched. Segel captures the same voice and style seen in interviews with David Foster Wallace.
Director James Ponsoldt describes the film as an anti-biopic. Instead of flattening out the complexities of Foster’s life, he takes a snapshot of two lives converging for just a handful of days. And it their interactions it becomes a sort of platonic and unrequited love story. He directs with this in mind and keeps the camera focused on making the conversation as interesting as possible. Lipsky wrote a memoir in 2008 after Wallace’s suicide called “Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip with David Foster Wallace”, and that became this film. Both are not meant to entertain, but share an incredible moment between two people.
