8) The End of the Tour
A24 acquired this pic out of Sundance, and if the distributor knows what it’s doing, it will lobby hard to get Jason Segel the Best Supporting Actor nod he so richly deserves for playing author David Foster Wallace in James Ponsoldt’s terrifically affecting The End of the Tour.
This is a career-defining, jaw-dropping landmark for the actor, more inhabitation than portrayal, with Segel adopting the author’s halting manner of speech, gentle-giant frame and constant back-and-forth between unyielding reticence and sparkling exuberance. He’s absolutely thrilling to watch, and the Academy should eat it up.
On top of that, Donald Margulies’ rich, ambitious script is a perfect distillation of all the achingly beautiful philosophy Wallace lived to write, communicating the author’s brilliance and painful humanity. It should be a shoo-in for an Oscar nod, if not a win.
Published: Jul 2, 2015 09:00 am