The End of the Tour (2015)

At the start of The End of the Tour, David Lipsy's editor tells him there had better be a story. Unfortunately for us viewers, there is not. What we get is an aimless two hour snooze that plays like a less interesting version of Almost Famous and that not even a chameleonic and career best performance from Jason Segel can salvage.

The biggest (and actually, only) positive of the film is Jason Segel as David Foster Wallace. He's completely mesmerising when he first appears, this big, shy, self-conscious guy who feels far more uncomfortable in the spotlight than anyone suspects. Funnyman Segel vanishes into Wallace with a hundred tiny mannerisms and facial expressions to show the emotions that the real Wallace wore plainly across his face. We see a shade of disappointment cross his face when Lipsky pulls out his recording device, just as we see the moment he finally clicks with this Rolling Stone New Yorker as they discover a common trait. Even when putting his foot down to prevent Lipsky interviewing his parents, he seems uncomfortable with the authority he wields and you can almost hear the inner dialogue saying "can I get away with this?" When he does get angry over Lipsky flirting with his ex-girlfriend, its not theatrical but rather simple and with great authenticity - and Segel invokes in the audience the same reaction you'd get if it were from a friend whose approval meant the world to you. Segel's performance is one of great subtlety reminiscent of Mark Ruffalo's brilliant performance in Foxcatcher last year, and in a just world, Segel would be in the conversation for an Oscar nomination.

The rest of the film, however, is absolutely nothing to write home about. Jesse Eisenberg is great in some scenes, but in others he just comes across as a typical nasally Eisenberg character. He plays well with Segel when the two of them circle each other, jealous of the other's life, but they lack the connection shared by Fugit and Crudup in the infinitely better Almost Famous. Mickey Sumner's Becky and Mamie Gummer's Julie spark some interest, but perhaps that's just because the film was stale without them. The marvellous Joan Cusack is completely wasted in a nothing role.

The screenplay is filled with authentic dialogue, which is respectful but far from entertaining. This is a conversation movie where little actually happens, but when compared with something like Bridge of Spies or 12 Angry Men, its incredibly dry. Segel has one eloquent monologue towards the end of the film, but the fact that another one follows about 2 minutes later ruins its impact. The very limited story that actually does happen outside the dialogue is cliché ridden - such as the boss back home who says "get the story, don't be his friend".

James Ponsoldt's direction is serviceable - there's nothing remarkable about it. This is most noticeable when Lipsky drops Wallace's suicide watch into conversation. A more talented director would have crafted the scene to create a spike in tension, something broken between the two as Wallace's defensive barriers shoot up. Segel tries, but Eisenberg doesn't even blink about what he's just said and the scene quickly passes. The sound mixing team deserves a whack over the back of the head for allowing that hideous rubber-squelching sound of Lipsky's boots to so dominantly feature in the final scene, at one point drowning out Eisenberg's words. Danny Elfman's score is interesting - despite sounding like s

Fmovies: Heard of David Foster Wallace? No? How about David Lipsky? Me neither. That's probably because I watch so many movies. These two men are writers and "The End of the Tour" (R, 1:46) is about the latter interviewing the former. Like many Americans, for better or worse, the best way to get me to pay attention to writers is to put their work or their personal stories into a movie. Now the question is: Was it a movie worth making? Or, more to the point: Is it a movie that's worth your time and money? In 1996, Wallace (Jason Segel) was a college professor and author who had just published his magnum opus, "Infinite Jest". This book (officially categorized as an "encyclopedic novel") uses its story of a dystopian future to comment on, according to Wikipedia, "addiction and recovery, family relationships, entertainment and advertising, film theory, United States-Canada relations (as well as Quebec separatism), and tennis." The tome received glowing reviews from most critics, catching the attention of Lipsky (Jesse Eisenberg), who was himself an author and a writer for "Rolling Stone" magazine. Encouraged by his girlfriend (Anna Chlumsky), Lipsky read the book, decided for himself the hype was justified, and convinced his editor (Ron Livingston) that a Wallace interview would make a good story.

Lipsky made the trip to Bloomington, Illinois, in order to meet Wallace and join him on the last leg of his book tour. The two men get to know each other as they drive around town, hang out at Wallace's modest rural home and then travel to Minneapolis and back. In Minneapolis, a publicist (Joan Cusack) picks up the two Davids at the airport, shows them around town and makes sure they get to Wallace's scheduled events. In the midst of the ongoing conversation between the two men, Lipsky observes Wallace at a book signing and during an NPR interview, along with getting to meet and hang out with Wallace's college girlfriend (Mickey Sumner) and a fan (Mamie Gummer) with whom Wallace had become friends. As their five days together progresses, Wallace and Lipsky get to know one another betterÂ… and they're not sure they like what they see in the other. The tensions between them calls into question how their relationship, the interview and the tour are ultimately going to end.

Wallace and Lipsky are two sides of the same coin. As Lipsky's inner monologue reveals to us, "He wants something better than he has. I want precisely what he has already." At this point in the lives of these two writers, Wallace is the more successful one, but also the more neurotic (part of his battle with depression), constantly expressing concern over how his statements will be perceived by the article's readers. He confesses to being "terrified" that his new-found fame will change him. "I have a real serious fear of being a certain way. I treasure my regular guy-ness", says Wallace, to which Lipsky responds, "You don't crack open a thousand-page book because you heard the author is a regular guy. You do it because he's brilliant." It seems that Wallace is the only one who doesn't realize (or can't accept) how special he is. "The more people think you're really great, the bigger the fear of being a fraud is," he reveals in one of many moments of raw honesty. It's a sentiment I think many successful people feel, but few would publicly admit. It's these kinds of insights that make this movie intriguing.

I couldn't sit through all of this movie. Just had to leave. We lasted somewhere into the middle of this boring dialogue posing as a movie. Maybe it gets better in the last half. The idea is not that bad. It's just that when the actual interview starts, it's so dull and goes on and on and on. With questions and a script that might have worked in a high school play. The acting is good. I just don't understand how this is a movie. It was a novel. Maybe the adaptation was the problem. It never seems to get off the ground. Just talk, talk, talk, talk in a sort of monotony. All very affable and unengaging. No dramatic tension. I don't understand all of these reviews on here that rave about this. What's the big deal? I think I missed the point. But I wasn't going to sit through another 45 minutes of that.

The End of the Tour fmovies. 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. During this interview, we get to see inside what it is like between the two men. Like I said earlier, this movie asks a lot of deeper questions that will leave you thinking. Questions like what is really important? If I am unhappy right now, will having what someone has change that? That even being famous and looked upon by the public doesn't really make you truly happy. We have seen this time and time again with famous celebrities that everyone thinks has it all together, give it all away because of depression and loneliness. This movie does an excellent job of portraying that. My only critique about this movie is that you never really get to know the character David who was doing the interview. They allude to deeper issues within him but never dive into them and expose them. Average Man Score: 8/10

We're currently attending a film festival and this is one of the featured films. My first indication that this might be more than I expected was the line of young people, including many young women, who were interested in getting what amounts to stand by tickets for the showing that featured an after movie panel discussion with Jason Segel and the director, James Ponsoldt. Now, I only know of Segel's work and haven't seen much of it. He isn't a particular attraction for me, but after seeing this movie, I'm quite sold on his ability especially when nurtured by the sensibilities of Mr Ponsoldt. The director read Mr Wallace's greatest work 'Infinite Jest' back when it first came out to huge success and makes sure you get a glimpse of the man's ability and charm.

Probably the only unfortunate part of all this is that this movie is not going to have wide appeal. It is almost exclusively about the real life meeting between a Rolling Stone journalist and newly minted super-author David Foster Wallace, back in the 90s. As such it is almost all dialog meant to convey a sense of Mr Wallace's breadth of knowledge about popular culture and his imagination.

There's little drama or action here in the usual sense. Still Mr Segel is most effective in breathing life into the man such that you would love to have known him. Even his co-star, Jesse Eisenberg, who I don't usually warm up to, is quite up to the task at hand, i.e., sparring with the great author to get the real man down on paper.

I loved the film, but I must make special mention that, for a film filled with dialog, for once, I caught every word. There was no asking my wife, what did he say? Why can't every film be as carefully constructed?

To me, this was the best film at Sundance Film Festival with a perfect blend of comedy, drama, and life lessons. Both Jesse Eisenberg and Jason Segel had towering performances in this film. And James Ponsoldt (Director of Spectacular Now and Smashed) presented the two main characters' relationship perfectly. The cinematography was also simply amazing! You can tell that the cinematography for this film was done so passionately as well as the music in this film. Of course who could expect anything less from 4-time Oscar nominee Danny Elfman for his amazing composing skills. To me this is a must see for audiences who are young adults (although it can be viewed by any age) mainly because of its view on how life should be lived. Right after the film was over there was a Q&A and one of the members of the audience stated, "Mr. Segel if you don't receive an academy award or nomination for your performance I would be very surprised." I just hope this film doesn't become another gem that goes unnoticed because of all the huge studio releases this year.