MPR News Cube Critic Stephanie Curtis joins Jill RIley and Sean McPherson to talk about a new film that centers on a tour that the late author David Foster Wallace made in the mid 1990s. The film stars Jason Segel as the author and Jesse Eisenberg as Rolling Stone reporter David Lipsky.

"David Foster Wallace was the great American novelist in the late 90s," Stephanie says. "He came out with a massive tome, Infinite Jest, that was a landmark in American fiction."

The film includes scenes in Minnesota, including the Hungry Mind in St. Paul, and the Mall of America in Bloomington. "It's great to see a movie that is set in the Midwest and is set in the bleak winter of the Midwest," Stephanie says. "I love seeing a movie in our own backyard."

The End of the Tour also includes a stop at a "public radio station"; although MPR is not named specifically, it's a reference to an interview David Foster Wallace did with John Rabe at MPR News (Rabe is now at Southern California Public Radio).

BONUS AUDIO:
Listen to John Rabe's actual 1996 MPR News interview with David Foster Wallace by clicking the playlist above.

Stephanie praises Jason Segel's performance. "You mainly think of him as comedic," Stephanie says, "but with this character, he had to portray somebody who was a living being that is idolized by many people and beloved, and inhabit somebody who many people consider one of the great geniuses of the United States from the past 30 years."

Eisenberg's performance is also praiseworthy. "He's the stand-in for the rest of us who would love to be geniuses but aren't," Stephanie says.

Listen to the full review by clicking the audio player above.

The End of the Tour is rated R and is screening at the Landmark Uptown Theatre in Minneapolis.

MPR's Cube Critic, Stephanie Curtis, joins The Current's Morning Show to talk about films every Friday at 8:30 a.m.

Related

• The End of the Tour - official site