David Foster Wallace (Jason Segel) has died in an apparent suicide. David Lipsky (Jesse Eisenberg) retrieves tapes of his interview with the writer. Twelve years earlier in 1996, Lipsky has written a book of limited success. His girlfriend Sarah (Anna Chlumsky) tells him about Wallace and his ground breaking book "Infinite Jest". He convinces his Rolling Stones editor (Ron Livingston) to assign him to join Wallace on his book tour. The juiciest question is Wallace's rumored heroine use. Lipsky becomes friends with Wallace and is unwilling to bring up the subject. In Minnesota, they are joined by Wallace fan Julie (Mamie Gummer) and Wallace's ex Betsy (Mickey Sumner). Wallace accuses Lipsky of flirting with Betsy and they dive into the tougher issues.
The first half of the movie isn't that compelling to me. The two characters are intriguing but there is no drama in their friendly dialog. Lipsky isn't pushing the conversation hard enough but that's also the point of the editor's call. Mostly I'm wondering where this movie is going with this and waiting for a turn. The phone call to Sarah starts the turn and Wallace's accusation completes it. The second half is very intriguing. It's an interesting study of these characters.
The first half of the movie isn't that compelling to me. The two characters are intriguing but there is no drama in their friendly dialog. Lipsky isn't pushing the conversation hard enough but that's also the point of the editor's call. Mostly I'm wondering where this movie is going with this and waiting for a turn. The phone call to Sarah starts the turn and Wallace's accusation completes it. The second half is very intriguing. It's an interesting study of these characters.