The End of the Tour is a 2015 American biographical drama film directed by James Ponsoldt and written by Donald Margulies.

The End of the Tour premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2015, and was theatrically released by A24 in U.S. theatres on July 31, 2015.

He had interviewed the author over a period of days twelve years earlier, following the publication of Wallace's novel Infinite Jest, which received critical praise and became an international bestseller, a touchstone for numerous readers.

Although initially skeptical of the high praise Wallace's book is receiving, Lipsky – a writer having only marginal success – is awestruck after reading it.

He persuades his editor at Rolling Stone magazine to give him an assignment to interview Wallace during his book tour.

Wallace opens up to Lipsky on a variety of subjects, ranging from dogs to television to fame and self-identity, but remains somewhat guarded.

As their conversation continues late into the night, Wallace invites Lipsky to stay in his unused "guest room", rather than a motel.

After their return to Wallace's home, tension increases when Lipsky asks the author about rumors of past heroin abuse.

[4] Time magazine's Lev Grossman wrote, "the transcripts of their brilliant conversations read like a two-man Tom Stoppard play,"[5] and NPR's Michael Schaub called the book "crushingly poignant ... startlingly sad yet deeply funny.

And serendipitous that such a thing actually occurred, and that David Lipsky was generous enough to share it with me, and gave me permission to include it in the film.

"[8]Margulies sent the completed script to James Ponsoldt, his former student at Yale University and a Sundance Award-winning director.

"[9] Ponsoldt had excerpts read at his wedding from Wallace's memorable commencement speech "This is Water", at Kenyon College.

[9] (Ponsoldt told The Wall Street Journal he had read Wallace since high school, and that Infinite Jest "was the most substantive relationship of my freshman year.

"[9] Speaking with Time magazine, David Lipsky related that before sending the memoir to publishers, he asked for the Wallace family's approval.

[12] Segel told the Los Angeles Times, "My personal feeling in taking on the movie and especially in seeing it is that it's a real extension of David Foster Wallace's themes and writing.

[17] Wired, after observing that "there has been enough conversation over the meaning and implications of director James Ponsoldt's fourth feature The End Of The Tour to rival the page count of Infinite Jest," praised Eisenberg's performance as "the best part of the film," deserving of "awards attention.

Preparing for the role, Segel listened exhaustively to Lipsky's recordings, watched online clips of Wallace, and assembled a small book club to read Infinite Jest.

'"[9] Segel's performance as David Foster Wallace was called "a revelation" by Entertainment Weekly,[19] "stunning" by Vanity Fair,[14] and "infinitely impressive" by the Chicago Sun-Times.

[20] Matthew Jacobs of The Huffington Post wrote, "It's early, but let's prep Jason Segel's Oscar campaign just to be safe.

[22] By March 18, 2014, Academy Award-nominated actor Joan Cusack had joined the cast as Wallace's Minneapolis–Saint Paul escort, Patty Gunderson.

[25][26][27] On March 19, 2014, it was announced that filming was taking place at JW Marriott Grand Rapids and shooting was said to wrap soon.

[30] Supervised by Tiffany Anders, the soundtrack features songs by Alanis Morissette, R.E.M., Brian Eno, and Felt.

"[31] Reviewing Elfman's score at Soundtrack Dreams, Minhea Manduteanu wrote, "From 'Walking the dog' on, everything fell into place.

[35][36] The New York Times reported, "Mr. Segel's performance – empathetic, nuanced, whip smart – left the packed theater breathless.

The site's critical consensus states: "Brilliantly performed and smartly unconventional, The End of the Tour pays fitting tribute to a singular talent while offering profoundly poignant observations on the human condition.

[39] At RogerEbert.com, critic Brian Tallerico called the film a "joy," and "stunning ... a gift of highly intellectual discussion between two brilliant people at turning points in their lives", while also praising Jason Segel and Jesse Eisenberg.

"[41] Entertainment Weekly gave the film an "A−" rating and Chris Nashawaty wrote it was "thoughtful and deeply affecting ...

[45] In her review for the Los Angeles Times, Sheri Linden wrote "James Ponsoldt's magnificent The End of the Tour gives us two guys talking, and the effect is breathtaking ...

"[49] In his review for the Chicago Sun-Times, Richard Roeper awarded the film four out of four stars, calling it "brilliant ... this is one of the best movies of the year".

[20] In his review for the Minnesota Star Tribune, Colin Covert gave the film four out of four, writing, "Simply put, it is a masterwork.