The End of the Tour (2015): Review

Stub • 600 Words • Film, 2025 • 12/26/2025

⚠️ This post contains a rougher cut of my thoughts on the topic and may be updated in the future. Please forgive any mistakes or lack of polish!

Background:

i was tangentially aware of DFW and the kind of reputation surrounding infinite jest, but didn’t really know too much about him otherwise
this film really resonated with me because i feel like i’ve had these kinds of conversations or relationships with men smarter than me where i am vying for their approval
- i also love any kind of portrayal of smart people and also modeling of good/interesting conversation on screen

Representation:

in the film DFW wasn’t desperate for approval but he did want to be liked he didn’t want to be a dick but he also didn’t want to be misunderstood or misportrayed and knew that it was lipsky’s job to do so
a movie and any other kind of portrayal of DFW will ultimately be reductive

Interview:

the editor lipsky dynamic stressed me out but did well to show that he wasn’t fully on DFW’s side—not antagonistic but not just friendly either
they were genuinely curious about each other although in the film it seemed like lipsky wanted to mostly keep it on DFW
they weren’t intellectually sparring with each other but i think lipsky was a good interlocutor
its the interviewer’s job to create rapport and it seemed genuine but we can never really know and of course there’s scenes of him kind of betraying DFW’s trust/basic social contract by snooping around for his article

Success:

lipsky was jealous of DFW as an author who was stalling a bit in comparison to a literary it boy
- lipsky can easily bond with people and is an unintentional flirt according to his girlfriend and the film portrays DFW to be kind of jealous or resentful of that fact as someone who struggles with loneliness
- he gets jealous when DFW talks to his girlfriend and takes it out on her
DFW didn’t let success get to his head because he was wary of how it might change him and that was one of his big fears

Intelligence and Self-Awareness:

pretentious gets thrown around a lot to someone who is so smart, self-aware, and particular but really DFW seemed like a down to earth guy who had been in his head a lot
in the film he says he is no smarter than anyone else and that given time he can produce intelligent output but maybe hinting that he isn’t just some off the cuff genius
it is a weird thing to think you are smarter than other people like he says in the film that it seems bad to think that people have less rich interior life than you—what kind of person does that make you to think that?
DFW was quite self-aware and you can see him kind of leveling with himself about the headband which could be quite paralyzing if it happens with other choices as well because the public eye just complicates everything
- i do think that self-awareness typically increases with general intelligence which is why you can be “too smart for your own good” or rather that your mind can become a prison for yourself sometimes

DFW and Modernity:

Depression:

the burning building as a metaphor for depression/suicide
anomie and the untethering of the self and future from the American Dream as disorienting
- depression as a legitimate response to your surroundings
he was severely depressed and i wonder if he relapsed or had newer emotional complications from fame that drove him to take his own life

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