Reviews & Ratings for
The End of the Tour (2015)

The End of the Tour is an adaptation of David Lipsky's book about a 5 day weekend he spent with Infinite Jest author David Foster Wallace at the end of his book tour. David LIpsky was a reporter for Rolling Stone, but the article he was sent to write was never published in the magazine. He tape recorded his conversations with Wallace, and after Wallace's suicide at 46, he published his memoir of their time together, which he said was transformative.

David Lipsky had published his own book, to very modest success and couldn't believe the glowing reviews of Wallace's Infinite Jest. He read the book himself, and was crushed to find the reviews were true.

Jesse Eisenberg plays David Lipsky and an almost unrecognizable Jason Segel is David Foster Wallace. This is not a traditional biopic, but the tape recorded converstations were wide ranging in scope, giving Segel's David Foster Wallace opportunity to pontificate on loneliness, excess and modern life.

Full disclosure, I have never read Wallace's work. At times, it felt like the film was just an excuse to cram the maximum number of David Foster Wallace quotes in. There isn't much of a plot really -- just a buddy road trip. I enjoy Jess Eisenberg in more acerbic roles, like Mark Zuckerberg. I'm not sure I really bought his connection as LIpsky to Wallace and his tears near the end.

Jason Segel, however, I thought was terrific as David Foster Wallace. It was wonderful to see him in a dramatic role.

Being an Illinois native, I nudged my husband at the footage of the highway sign for Bloomington, Illinois, where Wallace was teaching at ISU at the time of the film. Driven that stretch of road many a time!