Rolling Stone writer David Lipsky spent several days with David Foster Wallace at the tail end of his book tour for his blockbuster novel, Infinite Jest. The story would never be published. When Wallace killed himself, Lipsky went back over his interviews and the compelling tete-a-tete between the two gifted writers would become his bestselling piece of non-fiction, Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip with David Foster Wallace.
That story has now come to the big screen with The End of the Tour — a mesmerizing tale from director James Ponsoldt with Jesse Eisenberg as Lipsky and Jason Segel making an enormous announcement as Wallace.
The Indiana-based author wrote Infinite Jest and although it became a massive smash in the literary world, he kept working as an English professor at a small liberal arts college and his ah-shucks demeanor only further enhanced his popularity amongst his legions of fans who ingested his book like air.
Seeking to explore something with his writing at Rolling Stone that added up to more than coverage of boy bands, Lipsky convinced his editor to let him follow Wallace on the last days of his book tour and report on the “real” Wallace. There were rumors about a mental breakdown, suicide attempt and even hard-core drug use. Lipsky was sent to get to the bottom of it. But what happened when the two Davids met was something completely unexpected.
They were kindred spirits and each found something to admire in the other. Lipsky himself had published a book and dreamed of having the literary success that Wallace had. And Wallace, meanwhile, seemed to not be too comfortable with the accolades being hurled on him with Infinite Jest.
Segel and Eisenberg make a terrific tandem in this drama. And what makes this film so special is that it consists mostly of two gifted writers conversing, and as such, the dialogue is about as rich as we’re going to get in this summer movie season, or any time for that matter. The script by Donald Margulies is verbal volleyball for our two leads and the actors are more than adept at handling it and delivering conversational athleticism that this writer wishes existed more in real life!
Eisenberg is his usual fantastic self, but the headline grabber in The End of the Tour is Segel. His performance as Wallace is Best Actor Oscar-worthy. Will he be among the final five when the nomination announcements are revealed this coming January? Probably not, because the passage of time and a fall filled with stellar work will drown out this explosion of awesomeness from the normally comedic actor.
But, there is something truly special that Segel does with Wallace that friends, family and fans of the late author should be quite thankful.
Segel makes Wallace pop off the screen. He was a complicated fellow with immeasurable intelligence and an uncanny talent for capturing that with his prose. Writers are notoriously difficult to characterize on film and what Segel does is nothing short of a miracle. It’s a three-dimensional performance that feels like if there were more dimensions to explore, Segel would have found ways to push his Wallace there and beyond.
Grade: A-