We're currently attending a film festival and this is one of the featured films. My first indication that this might be more than I expected was the line of young people, including many young women, who were interested in getting what amounts to stand by tickets for the showing that featured an after movie panel discussion with Jason Segel and the director, James Ponsoldt. Now, I only know of Segel's work and haven't seen much of it. He isn't a particular attraction for me, but after seeing this movie, I'm quite sold on his ability especially when nurtured by the sensibilities of Mr Ponsoldt. The director read Mr Wallace's greatest work 'Infinite Jest' back when it first came out to huge success and makes sure you get a glimpse of the man's ability and charm.

Probably the only unfortunate part of all this is that this movie is not going to have wide appeal. It is almost exclusively about the real life meeting between a Rolling Stone journalist and newly minted super-author David Foster Wallace, back in the 90s. As such it is almost all dialog meant to convey a sense of Mr Wallace's breadth of knowledge about popular culture and his imagination.

There's little drama or action here in the usual sense. Still Mr Segel is most effective in breathing life into the man such that you would love to have known him. Even his co-star, Jesse Eisenberg, who I don't usually warm up to, is quite up to the task at hand, i.e., sparring with the great author to get the real man down on paper.

I loved the film, but I must make special mention that, for a film filled with dialog, for once, I caught every word. There was no asking my wife, what did he say? Why can't every film be as carefully constructed?

David Foster Wallace (Jason Segel) has died in an apparent suicide. David Lipsky (Jesse Eisenberg) retrieves tapes of his interview with the writer. Twelve years earlier in 1996, Lipsky has written a book of limited success. His girlfriend Sarah (Anna Chlumsky) tells him about Wallace and his ground breaking book "Infinite Jest". He convinces his Rolling Stones editor (Ron Livingston) to assign him to join Wallace on his book tour. The juiciest question is Wallace's rumored heroine use. Lipsky becomes friends with Wallace and is unwilling to bring up the subject. In Minnesota, they are joined by Wallace fan Julie (Mamie Gummer) and Wallace's ex Betsy (Mickey Sumner). Wallace accuses Lipsky of flirting with Betsy and they dive into the tougher issues.

The first half of the movie isn't that compelling to me. The two characters are intriguing but there is no drama in their friendly dialog. Lipsky isn't pushing the conversation hard enough but that's also the point of the editor's call. Mostly I'm wondering where this movie is going with this and waiting for a turn. The phone call to Sarah starts the turn and Wallace's accusation completes it. The second half is very intriguing. It's an interesting study of these characters.

When i heard the title "The End of the Tour" for the first time, I thought of the Tour de France and cycling movie from this year. That one, however, is called "The Program" and "The End of the Tour" has nothing to do with professional sports. But it is also based on real events. We find out about a journalist from the "Rolling Stone" who goes on a journey with the writer David Foster Wallace. The director is James Ponsoldt and he made "Smashed", one of my favorite films from recent years. The writer is Donald Margulies (based on Lipsky's work) and I cannot say I am familiar with him.

Same goes for David Foster Wallace. I am fairly certain that people who read the book that this movie is about or Lipsky's articles will probably enjoy this film more than I did because they have background knowledge on the whole scenario. So my approach is basically the same as if this film was entirely fictitious. But it did not keep me from enjoying these roughly 105 minutes. It's basically a 2-man show from Eisenberg and Segel with the latter being easily the most memorable aspect of the film. I am not really familiar with Segel in contrast to Eisenberg, but he wowed me here and this made me curious about other films he appeared in. This is not to say that Eisenberg was bad by any means. he also delivers a good portrayal. And you have to hold in his favor that he did not have big makeup on him. This is a very slow movie, so it is certainly not for everybody. The first half is basically about the two bonding and truly making a connection, but quickly afterward first tensions arise. As a whole, I enjoyed the watch and recommend it, even if it is not a film that I will soon feel the need to rewatch I'm sure.