Adapted from David Lipsky's own memoir, Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself, THE END OF THE TOUR perfectly encapsulates one of the most nuanced, intense conversations about fame and ego, into a genuinely feel-good film that can feel intimate at times while being personally open. Jesse Eisenberg and Jason Segel shine through the film, but Segel's effort in becoming David Foster Wallace needs to be acknowledged so dearly.When James Ponsoldt announced that he's going to make another film with Jason Segel, I honestly felt at that time, 'Wow, I bet this is gonna be good'. And when the film comes, it's true. Halfway through the film, I can't stop loving it. THE END OF THE TOUR is a story about David Lipsky, a novelist who also worked at Rolling Stone magazine, when his novel comes out, so does David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest--that becomes a critical sensation throughout the country. Lipsky was curious about him, so he proposed his boss, asking him to write about David Foster Wallace. There he goes all the way to his town in Illinois, engaged in conversations with David Foster Wallace. Their connection grows from friendship all the way to rivalry. It was really funny to watch.
The subtlety, the brilliance of each and every conversations feel so natural, thanks to Donald Margulies' exceptional way of writing. The whirling of the dialogues, how they communicate truly to one another, the way the both lead actors are talking to each other, it was impalpably normal. For me, it feels like I'm watching a documentary.
Both the actors, Eisenberg and Segel compliment each other, their performances go so well together. With the tense, almost awkward charisma of Eisenberg, he nails the role and yet, he can make it his own. The scene where David Lipsky got the news about Wallace's death, his movements, his gestures from when Lipsky was young, they're so different in a way that Eisenberg truly makes Lipsky a real person. But what's needed to be singled out is Jason Segel. He radiates into David Foster Wallace. I can't stop looking at him, his performance was everything; he embodies the breezing, warm persona of Wallace, the charisma that he oozes within his role cracks through my skull.
As I finished the film. I was breathless by it, I always love films with conversations everywhere. You can see how troubled David Foster Wallace really was through Segel, how writers work, how their jobs both as the journalist and the writer compel each other. The way he reacts to what Lipsky said, and how he easily talks about his depression. It does not depict a romanticization of mental illness, but more of how a person could compose himself throughout what has been happening to them. Truly a benevolent film, in a good way.
Watch the trailer below:
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