The most unexpected surprise movie of 2015 was the incredibly well-written and well-acted The End of the Tour. While The Gift was the biggest surprise of the year, I went into that movie believing I would probably like the film, but maybe not that much. With The End of the Tour, I was super apprehensive about one of those things because the trailer just looked pretty corny. While I know many comedic actors can start in fantastic dramas (Robin Williams, Jonah Hill, Bill Murray), I was very uncertain that Jason Segel was up to this task at this point in his career. Segel has killed it with his comedy, both on the big screen (I Love You, Man, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, The Muppets) and television (How I Met Your Mother, Freaks and Geeks). He’s had a couple of misses (Sex Tape, Bad Teacher), but I still felt that he hadn’t worn out his recipe for success. Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell, and others have all made hundreds of millions using the same formula. I think Segal is undoubtedly a more talented actor than Sandler. With Ferrell, time will tell. He’s in a bit of a lull, but I wouldn’t count him out. Nonetheless, Segal is an unbelievable talent who quietly goes about his business and will continue to earn opportunities in film and television.
As apprehensive as I was about seeing Segal playing David Foster Wallace, a depressed, once institutionalized and suicidal writer who, at 34, is on the verge of becoming one of the most recognizable fictional authors with the release of his novel Infinite Jest (which has already been called one of the 100 best English-language novels published since 1923 by Time magazine, he exceeded my expectations. Of course, playing a real-life character helped, but he was distinguishable, not just in the way he looked, but with everything from the way he talked, his mannerisms, and his efforts not to be funny. To me, he came across as highly credible.
The movie details a five-day interview/road trip between Wallace and Rolling Stone journalist David Lipsky (Jesse Eisenberg – The Social Network, Adventureland). Lipsky, a writer himself (albeit much less successful), lobbies for the chance to go to Wallace’s house in Illinois and travel with him while he finishes his book tour in Minnesota. Along the way, the two discover that they have a lot in common, and, at times, this feels like a buddy road trip more than an interview. It is engrossing and entertaining while still being so simple in its delivery and story. What is also ironic is that Lipsky had never heard of Wallace and only began reading Infinite Jest when his girlfriend Sarah (Anna Chlumsky – My Girl, In the Loop) convinces him to do so. Then, he has an epiphany where he realizes what he is reading is pure gold.
Director James Ponsoldt (The Spectacular Now, Smashed) made The End of the Tour feel like it might be the most honest movie of the year and one that I could relate to. I love the idea that Lipsky wants everything Wallace has and how Wallace wants to be something other than what he is. Mental illness is often difficult to recognize and even harder to understand. After everything the two have been through, “I’m not so sure you wanna be me,” it is still something that Lipsky cannot comprehend. He is unable to see beyond his success. His arrogance is portrayed as a result of his own doing. He believes that if he were in Wallace’s situation, all of his troubles would disappear, and life would be grand.
The movie feels like a two-hour conversation between Lipsky and Wallace. Wallace’s sudden rise to stardom feels hollow when we see that he doesn’t have the resources that will allow him to enjoy it. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of joy in his life. He’s an addict, with his primary addiction being television. He doesn’t own a television in his house because he doesn’t trust himself not to watch it continuously on end. He doesn’t seek a life of glamour. Sure, he considers some of the perks of being famous, but he also understands that any bonuses he receives are due to his novel and not because of him. He wants to fit in even when he knows fitting in for him is impossible. Mostly though, he wants to be happy. So while Lipsky sees Wallace as an interview subject, Wallace wants to see Lipsky more as a friend. He needs a friend.
For me, it was easy to see that this was an actual narrative. I read where some details were changed from how Wallace was in real life to his portrayal in the movie. I appreciate a film that changes as little as possible from the facts. At the same time, I understand the need to entertain. It’s a double-edged sword. Wallace seemed a bit creepier than how his portrayal in the novel. Notably, he had some stalker-type issues with females. But the topics that Wallace spoke so freely about and his opinions were of such a nature that they just couldn’t be made up. He had a particular outlook on life, acutely developed over time and one that I believe he wished was different. For example, the word bipolar was never mentioned, but this man was all over the map. Also, in the movie, there was no talk of any sort of medication he was on. But people who are right in the mind don’t go to the extremes as quickly and frequently as Wallace did. And the way that he did it had Lipsky flabbergasted because he didn’t live in or understand that type of world.
It’s weird how we perceive others. We all know the phrase “we don’t know what goes on in people’s lives behind closed doors.” But when those doors open, and we get a glimpse of a life that we comprehend as entirely different from what we see, this is never truer.
The dynamic between Segel and Eisenberg is terrific. I love Segel. I’m not the biggest fan of Eisenberg, but he was great here. He had an arrogance about him that he used to try to hide his insecurity. Segel’s Wallace was just an insecure guy, and his performance was just a delight. He has you liking him from the very beginning and sympathizing immensely with him by the end. It’s a wonder how some of us can become broken so easily and how sometimes we can trace its roots and sometimes we can’t. Ultimately this is a film with some people feeling like it’s a success story at the end and others who will feel like it’s a tragedy. I think it depends on which character you can most easily identify.
In any case, I encourage you to check it out for yourself and make your own decision. It’s a movie that’s worth seeing.
Plot 9/10
Character Development 8.5/10
Character Chemistry 9.5/10
Acting 9.5/10
Screenplay 9/10
Directing 9/10
Cinematography 9/10
Sound 9/10
Hook and Reel 9/10
Universal Relevance 9.5/10
91%
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