The End of the Tour: Directed by James Ponsoldt, Starring: Jason Segel, and Jesse Eisenberg8/23/2015 Interesting people are hard to come by, but when you find someone, it’s always interesting to see where they will take you. I didn’t know where The End of the Tour would take me, but I’m glad that I went for the ride. The actors are so good that they almost seem to become their characters, and you could say that David Foster Wallace, and David Lipsky took me somewhere. It’s an eye opening film that deals with lots of interesting themes about how perception is manipulated by media and just all out conversation, and yet it seems so grounded as a personal drama between two strangers who just want to talk. The End of the Tour is about the last week of David Foster Wallace’s book tour for his lauded Infinite Jest. Personally I knew nothing of the book before now, and to be honest I really won’t ever, but if you’re wondering, that turns out to be unimportant. The End of the Tour is more about the relationship that builds around these ideas, and these people. It’s about figuring out what makes them tick. Segel’s David Foster Wallace is a character we meet, and immediately realize is a little odd, and just lonely, but it’s not explained why. Those who aren’t paying close enough attention may not even figure out why. It’s a film that rewards the ones that will pay attention, and through it’s own conversations will lead to your own. The End of the Tour isn’t the greatest written film, but the ideas that its characters propose in their conversations are certainly thought provoking; if just a little broad. I say a little broad because in all honesty this should be a pretty small compacted film. It takes place in small compacted places like planes, hotel rooms, guest rooms, and backs of cars, and yet these two men are talking about huge themes concerning place, and purpose. The film can’t help but feel a little too broad in its scope when its two very normal characters find themselves discussing whether or not a bandana can take away the perception of a person’s free will, and yet are in a very self contained story about a short weekend. But it’s still commendable that screenwriter Donald Margulies was able to fit all of it in one movie, even if it’s a little too much. Aside from that, the other problem the film faces is that it’s all based on the ideas which makes the film feel a little shallow. That doesn’t end up mattering because Jason Segel, and Jesse Eisenberg are interesting enough to power punch through any of the slower moments, but it’s definitely noticeable. The performances are really great, and they are characters that come into the film almost fully formed, but are missing tiny details. That’s not a big deal either because these tiny details give the characters somewhere actually to go, and when Segel finally lets loose, and fills in the detail of what causes Foster to be so odd and thoughtful, it's heart breaking. The End of the Tour is a pretty good film, but I think it’s a little too broad of a film to fully cement itself as a great film even if the dialogue and acting is really up to par. I give The End of the Tour an 8.5 out of 10.
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December 2017
CategoriesAuthorHello welcome to FilmAnalyst. My name is Stephen Tronicek, and I really like movies. This is a way to get my opinions out to people. Thank you for visiting. |