Another one of our favorite movies from Sundance gets a trailer this week, and actually it’s maybe our very favorite. The End of Tour is only one of two titles from this year’s festival to get an ‘A’ grade by its reviewer, Kate Erbland (the other is Neil Miller’s take on People, Places, Things). She was especially impressed by Jason Segel‘s portrayal of author David Foster Wallace, the central figure of the movie, which is based on David Lipsky‘s memoir “Although Of Course You End Up Being Yourself.”
“Segel, in an unabashed star turn and major pronouncement of his dramatic talents, effectively translates Wallace’s written personality to the big screen, first through sardonic wit, eventually through sharply drawn pain and biting honesty,” she wrote. “Segel isn’t doing some kind of basic and aping impersonation here (though he nails Wallace’s cadences and speech patterns in ways that are almost eerie), he simply embodies the role. It’s not mimicry, it’s impression, and the impression is a lasting one.”
Kate was not quite as affected by Jesse Eisenberg, who plays Lipsky, but that’s because Segel is like his character, “in a class of his own.” She wrote that Eisenberg still bounces off Segel to great effect, so don’t expect something one-sided except in a way that sounds appropriate to the story. After all, it’s about a genius being interviewed by a lesser writing talent. Director James Ponsoldt (The Spectacular Now), working off an adaptation by Donald Margulies, looks like he knew what he was doing with the dichotomy of his two main characters.
The End of the Tour does feature some other people, too, including Anna Chlumsky, Joan Cusack, Ron Livingston, Mamie Gummer, Mickey Sumner and Becky Ann Baker.
Here is the official synopsis via A24:
THE END OF THE TOUR tells the story of the five-day interview between Rolling Stone reporter (and novelist) David Lipsky (Jesse Eisenberg) and acclaimed novelist David Foster Wallace (Jason Segel), which took place right after the 1996 publication of Wallace’s groundbreaking epic novel, Infinite Jest. As the days go on, a tenuous yet intense relationship seems to develop between journalist and subject. The two men bob and weave around each other, sharing laughs and also possibly revealing hidden frailties – but it’s never clear how truthful they are being with each other. Ironically, the interview was never published, and five days of audio tapes were packed away in Lipsky’s closet. The two men did not meet again. The film is based on Lipsky’s critically acclaimed memoir about this unforgettable encounter, written following Wallace’s 2008 suicide. Both Segel and Eisenberg reveal great depths of emotion in their performances and the film is directed with humor and tenderness by Sundance vet James Ponsoldt from Pulitzer- Prize winner Donald Margulies’ insightful and heartbreaking screenplay.
The movie hits theaters on July 31st.
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