Movie Reaction: The End of the Tour

Formula: Almost Famous - Finding Forrester

Why I Saw It: I heard good things about Jason Segel's performance and have you seen the other options in theaters right now? It's desolate.

Cast: Jason Segel and Jesse Eisenberg dominate the movie. Several familiar faces like Mamie Gummer, Anna Chlumsky, Joan Cusack, and Ron Livingston show up for a few scenes too.

Plot: In 1996, working for Rolling Stones magazine, underachieving author David Lipsky (Eisenberg) visits author David Foster Wallace (Segel) for the last leg of his book tour.

Thoughts:I've grown to like this style of movie a lot. It's basically a "discussion movie" (other examples would be Before Sunrise, Top Five, Weekend). There isn't much plot. There's two guys and they talk as the movie follows them around for a couple days. As long as the conversation is interesting (which it normally is in this) the movie is engaging.
Eisenberg makes David Lapsky both likable and frustrating as hell. He's an aspiring author, more or less a contemporary of Wallace's in age, but thoroughly outclassed by him in writing/success, which clearly bothers him. Lapsky is also trying to get a good interview too, which requires asking some uncomfortable questions that Wallace is skilled at deflecting. It's very complex work by the former Oscar nominee.
Jason Segel is the story of the movie though. I don't know much about David Foster Wallace, so I can't say how well Segel imitates the author. I can say that Segel really dives into the role. It's strange. While watching him, I'd be both acutely aware that this is Jason Segel that I'm watching but that he was still doing right by Wallace. Like Segel was chosen for the role because he is the only actor who can recreate David Foster Wallace's presence. That's speculation of course. Still, Jason Segel does really surprising, fantastic work.

Elephant in the Room: I haven't read Infinite Jest or the interview that this about. Is that going to be a problem? It wasn't a problem for me. The fun of the movie is deciding how authentic Wallace is being (I'm still undecided about that), not that "he just made a reference to that one part in the book".

To Sum Things Up:
This is a thoughtful movie. It's a passion project and handles its central figure delicately. Segel and Eisenberg are even better together than they are individually. Also, how do you feel about Broken Arrow?

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend