Infinite jesting
3
The End of the Tour In 1996, Rolling Stone writer David Lipsky spent just under a week living and traveling with author and University of Arizona graduate David Foster Wallace. Wallace was winding up a book tour in support of his highly acclaimed, wonderfully crazy, mammoth novel Infinite Jest, and Lipsky thought that there was no better time to spotlight an author in one of by America’s most popular magazines. Bob Grimm The interview never got published in the magazine, and Wallace committed suicide 12 bg r i mm@ newsr evie w.c om years later at the age of 46. Lipsky, who kept his interview tapes, used them for his book, Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself, published shortly after Wallace’s death. That book has been adapted into the beautiful and heartbreaking The End of the Tour starring Jesse Eisenberg as Lipsky and Jason Segel in a surprising, non-comedic turn as Wallace.
5
Hideous men briefly interviewing one another.
1 Poor
2 Fair
3 Good
4
The movie is beautiful in that it’s so eloquent in the way it shows two young writers simply talking to one another about their craft, and deftly illustrates how Wallace thought and spoke thanks to an incredible performance from Segel. It’s heartbreaking in that we viewers know what fate awaits Wallace 12 years after their meeting. Segel’s Wallace is a likeable, slightly strange, shy man who knows he’s supposed to open up to Lipsky and his story for promotion’s sake, but fears sounding stupid and selling out. Eisenberg’s Lipsky is the consummate journalist, married to his cassette recorder, examining medicine cabinets, and looking for that moment to pounce with that heroin question he’s supposed to ask. (Lipsky’s editor, as played by Ron Livingston, insists that Wallace’s suspected heroin use should be the heart of the story.)
Very Good
5 excellent
24 | RN&R |
AUGUST 27, 2015
When Lipsky shows up at Wallace’s snowy Illinois home to start the interview, he doesn’t encounter some conceited intellectual guy drinking up newfound fame and partying with groupies. He encounters a humble man alone in his house, living a quiet life with two crazy dogs and Pop Tarts for breakfast. Lipsky and Wallace immediately commence trying to establish a level of trust. Segel and Lipsky make their back-and-forth always convincing. Tour then progresses into a road movie as the two travel to Minneapolis on the final leg of the Infinite Jest book tour. It’s on this trip that Wallace reveals an addiction to television, an addiction so bad he refuses to have a TV in his house. It also touches upon the sadness and problems that plagued Wallace, made most evident when the two square off over Wallace’s college sweetheart (Mickey Sumner). Segel and Eisenberg make this particular moment an uncomfortable and even scary one. Segel, without outright declaring what his afflictions were, gives us real insight into the insecurities and conflicts that beat Wallace down in the end. It’s easily the bestacted moment of his film career. Directed by James Ponsoldt, who is on a hot streak with this and prior films The Spectacular Now and Smashed, the film offers nice insight into the sudden fame that Wallace achieved, and the journalist who was fascinated by it. The settings of snowy Bloomington, Illinois, and Minneapolis—snowy Michigan also often substituting for the cities— provide the perfect tone for the film. Danny Elfman contributes an evocative, soothing soundtrack, which is miles away from his more burlesque work with the likes of Tim Burton. The film is a remarkable give-and-take between two actors. There’s often sweetness and warmth to it, but there’s also the everpresent undercurrent of melancholy. Segel personifies Wallace in just the way you’d expect to see the man who wrote the wild, introspective prose of Infinite Jest. He was a confusing, brilliant, sorrowful, funny, complicated, gifted man, and there’s no doubt Segel was aware of that with every second he spent before cameras making this movie. The film plays with the notion that no matter how well a journalist and a subject hit it off, friendship can’t come before the story. There’s a real sadness in the idea that, without the need to do an interview, these two could’ve been real pals. Ω
American Ultra
Jesse Eisenberg, having himself a great summer with his career best performance in The End of the Tour, spreads his wings a bit as a stoner with a secret in this sporadically fun film from director Nima Nourizadeh (Project X) and writer Max Landis (Chronicle). While enjoying a fine cup of soup, convenience store clerk Mike Howell (Eisenberg) notices some dudes monkeying with his car. Seconds later, he’s killing people with a spoon. Mike’s girlfriend Phoebe (Kristen Stewart, kicking mortal ass) is concerned about her beau, who has suddenly attained the ability to wipe out people with robot precision. I will not tell you why. You have to see the movie to find out why. The film has a great premise, and could’ve been a classic dark comedy. Unfortunately, it leans a little too heavy towards the dark side in its second half and goes light on the laughs. Eisenberg and Stewart rise above any of the tonal problems and story lags to make the movie something worth seeing. Stewart just gets better with every movie she shows up in. I think her Bella-Lag is wearing off for sure. Eisenberg plays his part like an ignorant, coiled rattlesnake, and he’s actually appropriately scary at times. Again, a fun film for most of its running time, but it could’ve been something really special.
3
Ant-Man
After a shocking directorial exodus and a series of rewrites, Marvel’s Ant-Man makes it to the screen as a reasonably enjoyable piece of summer fare thanks to the total charmer playing the title character. Paul Rudd is Scott Lang, a wisecracking professional thief given a new lease on life when Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) shows him the wonders of his incredible shrinking suit. Rudd was given the job by Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World), who left the film as its director after working on the project for years. While Wright still gets an executive producer credit and some writing credit, Peyton Reed (Yes Man), a virtual stranger to big budget blockbusters, wound up at the helm with a script rewrite from Adam McKay and Rudd himself. Reed does a good—although not outstanding—job in Wright’s place. The framework for the movie plays it mighty safe, with an emphasis on family viewing and very little of the offbeat touches that are the hallmark of a Wright affair. Still, Rudd is great as the title character, and some of the shrinking sequences are a blast.
3
The Gift
Joel Edgerton writes, directs and stars in this capable thriller about the perils of bullying and moving back to your home state. Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall play Simon and Robin, a married couple returning to California where Simon has a new job. While shopping for throw pillows, they run into Gordo (Edgerton), a high school pal who Simon doesn’t seem to remember at first. Gordo goes out of his way to welcome the new couple, dropping by the house uninvited, stocking their pond with fish and basically creeping out Simon. As the film progresses, more is revealed about Simon, his past with Gordo, and his current dishonesty. Bateman, who usually opts for more comedic roles, is very good as a man who thinks he has control of his domain, and thinks he can get away with habitual fibbing. Hall is terrific as the wife who can’t help but feel a little sorry for Gordo. Edgerton is creepy and somehow sympathetic as the strange man of the past who wants Simon to remember him in the worst way. Edgerton shows that he can write a screenplay with some good twists, direct it so there are plenty of surprises, and act it so that it’s good and scary. A true triple threat.
3
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation
Tom Cruise is back as Ethan Hunt. This time around, he’s hanging from airplanes, performing overly long tasks underwater, and riding a motorcycle again. Everything he does is in service of a convoluted plot involving some sort of evil syndicate of international agents. All sorts of nationalities are in on the evil, but the United Kingdom is especially nasty in this one, giving the whole thing a little bit of a James Bond vibe. Simon Pegg’s role is increased this time out, his computer analyst guy becoming Hunt’s sidekick. Newcomer to the series Alec Baldwin gets a couple of good scenes as the CIA guy trying to eradicate Hunt’s agency. Rebecca Ferguson is impressive as an English agent who may or may not be a villain and, yes, is quite decent-looking in
a bikini. Jeremy Renner is around to crack wise as he messes with Baldwin’s character, while Ving Rhames still gets to collect a paycheck. As for Emilio Estevez, sadly, he’s still dead after his elevator accident in the first film. This is my least favorite M:I yet, but it’s still a good film. Things feel a little by-the-numbers, but Cruise is a crazy bastard willing to go all out for his movies, and this installment is no exception. The dude is nuts, and we, the movie-viewing public, benefit from this.
4
Mr. Holmes
Ian McKellen is shockingly good as the infamous Sherlock Holmes in this decidedly unorthodox twist on the sleuth’s story. McKellen plays him as an aging man in his 90s, fighting memory loss and struggling to recall the details of a case that caused him to walk away from the detective life. He does this on an estate accompanied by his housekeeper (a typically wonderful Laura Linney), her son (the charming Milo Parker) and his bees. The film features flashbacks to 20 years earlier (which has McKellen playing somewhere in the vicinity of his actual age), with Holmes trying to remember the circumstances involving a beautiful woman, her husband and a Japanese man. Things are a little slow-going at first, but when the pieces all get put together, it’s a nice payoff. Director Bill Condon (miles away from his pitiful stint on the Twilight series) has made a film full of sumptuous visuals, splendid acting and good humor. McKellen plays Holmes as a dignified, if sometimes nasty, older man who never wore that silly hat or smoked that huge pipe. In an interesting twist, his character is actually world famous and the subject of movies he considers garbage. The year has been a little light on great performances so far. McKellen’s is certainly one of them. His interactions with Linney and Parker are classically good. Condon and McKellen worked together before (Gods and Monsters). This stands as a much welcomed reunion.
4
Straight Outta Compton
I watched the entirety of this thrilling new N.W.A. biopic, not knowing that Ice Cube’s son was playing Ice Cube. It’s not like the guy is named Ice Cube, Jr. He’s actually named O’Shea Jackson Jr., his dad’s birth name with a Jr. tacked on to the end. Jackson, Jr. is the No. 1 reason to see Compton, a blast of a film that chronicles the rise of rap group N.W.A., the eventual infighting, and the birth of some gigantic solo careers and record labels. Along with Jackson Jr., Jason Mitchell is a revelation as Eazy-E, and Corey Hawkins provides a nice anchor as Dr. Dre. The film works best when covering the early days and the creation of the legendary album that shares the movie’s title. It also spends plenty of time on the band’s management problems with Jerry Heller (Paul Giamatti in a moderately distracting wig), and Eazy-E’s eventual death from AIDS. At a running time of 180 minutes, plenty of ground gets covered, and covered in a way that never gets boring. This is a solid cinematic time capsule that gives some deserved glory to an influential group that forever changed the landscape of hip-hop and brought much needed attention to a very troubled part of the world. It does the band, and the biopic genre in general, proud.
3
Trainwreck
The hilarious Amy Schumer gets her first starring vehicle with a screenplay she wrote under the directorial tutelage of Judd Apatow and costarring Bill Hader. I would say this movie signals the arrival of Schumer as a cinematic force to be reckoned with. She plays Amy, a magazine writer playing the field in New York and doing it rather sloppily. When she’s assigned a story covering a sports medicine doctor (Hader), she unexpectedly falls for the guy, which puts into flux her whole plan to just fool around with a lot of people. Schumer has crafted a pretty run-of-the-mill romantic comedy plotline with her screenplay, peppered with sometimes beautifully shocking profanity. She shows that she has the ability to nail the laughs, but she can also bring the emotional stuff, too. She has a funeral scene that is, dare I say, sublime. Hader is his always-terrific self as the shell-shocked boyfriend just trying to bring some stability into Amy’s life, and Colin Quinn is terrific as her retirement home-dwelling father. The story is a little weak and predictable, but Schumer and Hader are awesome together, so that makes this very much worthwhile.
