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The story of the five-day interview between Rolling Stone reporter David Lipsky and acclaimed novelist David Foster Wallace, which took place right after the 1996 publication of Wallace’s groundbreaking epic novel, ‘Infinite Jest.’
Biographical films are always hit and miss, as there is always the fear of mere impersonation, drab and affected. Portraits of literary figures in particular never seem to quite live up to their mythical personas. The 2003 film “Sylvia” starring Gwyneth Paltrow as Sylvia Plath left me completely disenchanted, tearing down the image of a woman I had created and revered in my own mind for a pale copy, stiff and hollow. Novelists and poets, the great wordsmiths, are best left alone, letting their celebrity stew within our imaginations. Their works alone speak volumes about their brilliance. Having said that, I was quite surprised by James Ponsoldt’s film, “The End of the Tour.”
Perhaps I found myself consumed by the film because for one I had no prior knowledge of who David Foster Wallace was or of the significance of his highly praised novel of biblical proportions, “Infinite Jest,” and the fact that this film is not your typical “from birth to death” biopic. Based on David Lipsky’s book, the film depicts an epic interview, full of philosophical pontifications and tension, which took place over the course of five days during Foster Wallace’s last leg of his book tour. We are offered glimpses of the novelist’s life, modes of thinking, and insecurities of himself, his ambitions, and fame as he converses and combats with Rolling Stone journalist and novelist David Lipsky.
Jason Segel’s performance as David Foster Wallace is something beyond of what I thought he was ever capable. Although I lack a familiarity with the essence of David Foster Wallace, there is a raw sense of realness, potency, in Segel’s portrayal. He is witty and a bit flighty. There’s a touch of volatility stretched just beneath the skin, making you feel as if you’re choking on your heart with all the underlying tension. Jesse Eisenberg’s performance as David Lipsky is less compelling only because it seems as if he’s been playing the same twitchy, high strung, flippant character in any film I’ve ever seen him in, which may be an unfair statement entirely if in fact his portrayal is true to the character of Lipsky. Regardless of my prodding of Eisenberg’s performance, it is obvious on screen that Eisenberg and Segel have an excellent rapport and the dialogue between Foster Wallace and Lipsky springs to life as naturally as it can via interview/interrogation, often accentuated by uncomfortable silence as much as deep and rolling jabber.
Ponsoldt’s “The End of the Tour” is a moving glimpse of a gifted novelist paranoid by his own mythos. The film is simply a long conversation between two writers both of whom are insecure with their talent, as well as what that talent is able to achieve. One wants what the other has while the other struggles to identify with what it is he has, perpetually fearing “phoniness,” ultimately creating both a rift and bond within a fledgling relationship.
Opens in Dallas August 7th
