A24 has released the first The End of the Tour trailer and poster. Based on a true story, the film follows Rolling Stone reporter David Lipsky (Jesse Eisenberg) and author David Foster Wallace (Jason Segel) on the closing days of the book tour of Infinite Jest, the novel that made Wallace a literary sensation.

Adam and I caught the film at Sundance, and we both thought it was terrific. Director James Ponsoldt (The Spectacular Now) once again shows he has a knack for blending heartfelt comedy with melancholic desperation, and while it will be said a lot (it’s even one of the blurbs in the trailer), Segel truly is a revelation. This trailer doesn’t give you the breadth of his performance, but you can already hear in his cadence that this is a different kind of turn from the actor. End of the Tour is a wonderful movie, and I can’t wait to see it again.

Check out The End of the Tour trailer and poster below. The film opens July 31st, and also stars Anna Chlumsky, Joan Cusack, Mamie Gummer, and Mickey Sumner.


Here’s the official synopsis for The End of the Tour:

THE END OF THE TOUR tells the story of the five-day interview between Rolling Stone reporter (and novelist) David Lipsky (Jesse Eisenberg) and acclaimed novelist David Foster Wallace (Jason Segel), which took place right after the 1996 publication of Wallace's groundbreaking epic novel, Infinite Jest. As the days go on, a tenuous yet intense relationship seems to develop between journalist and subject. The two men bob and weave around each other, sharing laughs and also possibly revealing hidden frailties - but it's never clear how truthful they are being with each other. Ironically, the interview was never published, and five days of audio tapes were packed away in Lipsky's closet. The two men did not meet again. The film is based on Lipsky's critically acclaimed memoir about this unforgettable encounter, Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip with David Foster Wallace, written following Wallace's 2008 suicide.  Both Segel and Eisenberg reveal great depths of emotion in their performances and the film is directed with humor and tenderness by Sundance vet James Ponsoldt from Pulitzer-Prize winner Donald Margulies' insightful and heartbreaking screenplay.

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