The End of the Tour (2015)

[Plain Old Tele]

Discuss.

[Avatree]

Solid movie with good performances.

[Goffe]

One of my faves of 2015

[Jake Gittes]

Great study of a tricky relationship that can develop between a fascinating, charismatic larger-than-life figure and someone below their level who idolizes them and is constantly trying to "solve" them and get into their head. (I've been that second person and man, could I relate). It's not in any way interesting visually and I'm not a fan of Anna Chlumsky only getting a walk-on supportive girlfriend role, but otherwise it's top-notch. Such ridiculous irony that with the industry's love of biopics, performances of real-life figures and comedic actors taking a turn into drama Segel never really got pushed and wasn't nominated anywhere (aside from the Spirits) for giving only the best biopic performance of last year. 

[Blankments]

Sometimes performances are captivating enough to make a movie great. The End of the Tour fits the criteria for that type of movie. The direction is unremarkable, and the script is good in the aspect that the naturalistic dialogue is always compelling to watch, although the lack of real structure hurts the film at points - a lot of "plot" elements are thrown at viewers without real context prior to the situations. The framing device also seems to exist just so there's no obnoxious postscript (although I’ll admit its final shot has grown off me). That said, the dual performances of Eisenberg and Segel are fantastic. Eisenberg displays a lot of subtlety to his typical character, and his facial acting has never been better than in this. Segel is truly astounding. I honestly can't believe it was Jason Segel to be honest. It's a raw, subdued performance that lacks any "Oscar scene" cringe to sully it. It's a turn I hope gets him more dramatic roles in the future; it's just that great. The two dual performances make The End of the Tour a compelling film that's definitely going to be a future mainstay for me, as I can see its messages growing alongside myself. Fascinating film. B+

[ChD]

Eisenberg clearly never smoked a cigarette in his entire life.

 

Will update with actual review at some point.

 

Edited March 27, 2016 by ChD

[ddddeeee]

Biggest surprise of last year for sure. It's stuck with me more than any recent movie I can think of. 

[Ethan Hunt]

This good as hell