Retrospective Review – The End of The Tour (2015)

With the year coming to a close, and “best of” discussions beginning (both casually amongst friends and for the site) I’m taking some time to delve into media that I did not consume when it first came out. I’m also revisiting some media so that I can be as informed as possible in these discussions. I’ve decided to turn this process into content – and so I’ll be reviewing as much of it as I can. In some cases, this is self-serving – I really want to write about Mad Max: Fury Road, for instance. In others, I’m watching something for the first time. For the most part, these reviews will be of film, though there may be some video games, TV, and comics mixed in there. The reviews may also be shorter than normal, considering the rapid pace at which I’m going. Who knows, maybe this could become an annual occurrence.

The End of The Tour is, in essence, a conversation that lasts an hour and forty-five minutes. It’s rare that a minute will go by without a line of dialogue, and the few that do are certainly a nice, albeit brief, break from the intensity of the conversation. It’s fortunate, then, that Donald Margulies does such a great job with the script. Nearly every line uttered by David Foster-Wallace (Jason Segal) and David Lipsky (Jesse Eisenberg) is impactful.

The End of The Tour is a biographical account of a five-day interview between author David Foster-Wallace and Rolling Stone journalist David Lipsky, soon after the release of Foster-Wallace’s Infinite Jest. It’s a fascinating breakdown of the two individuals, and the relationship that they developed after spending so much time together. Segal and Eisenberg have an excellent chemistry, and their portrayals of the two characters is key to the film’s success. How they interact with one another is an ebb and flow, one that continues throughout the film. Their interactions develop with the script, and the two actors do a brilliant job of conveying that.

The supporting cast is strong as well, particularly Joan Cusack as Patty. As centered as the film is around the two David’s, Patty’s character is also pretty important. Anna Chlumsky’s Sarah and Marnie Gummer’s Julie are equally great. These three have a decent amount of screen time, and their interactions with one another, as well as the two leads, is a major aspect of the film. As important as they are, though, I couldn’t help but feel that they were underused and underdeveloped. They’re present for less than half the movie, and they aren’t the focus, however, they never felt fully fleshed out. I’m not asking for the same development that the two leads got, but squandering three great performances is just an absolute waste. What we do get of them is great, so perhaps that’s the reason I was left wanting.

The End of The Tour is framed as a series of flashbacks, when Lipsky learns of the death of Foster-Wallace in 2008. Though the “present day” is only seen at the beginning and the end, knowing that it is Lipsky listening back to tapes of the duo’s time together was a great design choice. It gives additional emotional payoff to the film, on top of what would have been there anyways. Furthermore, it plays up the idea of an unreliable narrator, a notable feature of Foster-Wallace’s literary work. It’s a subtle touch, but regardless, it’s fairly brilliant.

Thematically, The End of The Tour deals with some heavy subjects. Depression makes up the center piece of these, honing in on how the characters deal with it. While only Foster-Wallace is explicitly dealing with it, it does become clear that Lipsky and other supporting characters are as well, in some way or another. For some, it’s actually just through their relationships with the leads that they deal with it. It’s a theme that’s implemented and dealt with well, largely through clever use of the script, though again, the mannerisms of the actors are important as well.

For as much as I enjoy the script, I will say that it may run too long, and ends hastily. Now, that may seem contradictory, but the first two acts are much intricate than the third. The third has some truly excellent payoff, but it goes by rapidly and ends suddenly. For as brilliant as a lot of the dialogue is, cutting some of it may have benefited the film. There are times when I found myself thinking “Hey, I’ve heard this before” or “Man, did they really need this many words to get their point across?” Removing a few scenes here and there and using that time to add a bit more depth to the third act could have easily pushed this movie into the realm of a masterpiece.

As it is, The End of The Tour is excellent, and, really, there’s not much else I can say about this film. It’s driven entirely by the actors and the script, both of which are generally brilliant. The script does falter in some ways, namely the underuse of of characters, but the acting is really what stands out here. This is definitely something that should be a part of the general discussion, especially as the year comes to a close.