50/100

Nashville Scene review. One tiny thing I couldn't possibly find a way to fit into it, but which will probably be what I'll recall most vividly about this rather mundane film in years to come: Wallace puts Murmur on at his house, and we actually hear the album play as he and Lipsky talk. As in, "Perfect Circle" ends and then "Catapult," which is in fact the next song, begins. Whether because of rights issues or just because dialogue scenes rarely run long enough, hearing two consecutive songs from the same album—commonplace in real life—almost never happens in movies. In fact, I can't remember another example offhand, which is why it jumped out at me. A meaningless touch, perhaps, but welcome nonetheless.

Spoilers for BROKEN ARROW I guess.

Jason Segel needs to be in more things.

Spectators who enjoyed this film may also enjoy:
-My Dinner With Andre
-Before Midnight
-Nekromantik
-2 hours of defocused images of snow accompanied by introspective ambient synths
-Placing the Blu-ray on a shelf next to This Is Water and none of David Foster Wallace's significant works
-Imagining David Lipsky falling down an industrial staircase that descends infinitely into the void

More and more I keep watching movies that are fully based on dialogue and facial expression and I am so glad that I am getting into that specific focus of film.

This movie makes me wish I knew David Foster Wallace, and also makes me want to read Infinite Jest (a big task though). It’s emotional, it’s gutting, it’s uncomfortable, I loved it

It’s just a beautiful portrayal of an awkward and confused artist and I’m so excited to do more research on Wallace and on David lipsky

I loved the scene where Lipsky rummages through the House describing everything he sees, it shows his selfish reporter side and that he just wants a story, but also cares about David.  Frick man this was really really good

there’s not a lot of things keeping me going right now. i fucked up bad & because of that, i lost something that meant the world to me. this movie is for those who are trying to live with something, do something, be something, get out of something. 

now this film does NOT have a happy ending. but the ending is real & what i need right now is what’s real. sometimes things are unexpectedly  over. i mean like life ya know, this is a bad comparison but...  we all die & it’s a bad thing to die.  but before we die there was probably a lot of good that happened before the final bad &  this movie reminded me that it’s okay to reminisce the good.  

i jus got a step closer to being okay. idk if i deserve that feeling rn, but... idk idk. it was good for me.

It’s kinda strange how banal this turned out. Especially if you’ve ever actually read Wallace.

Way more conversational than I thought it would be (in a good way)

Two of my favorite actors that just didn’t do it for me in this. 

Need to watch again. Hope my mind is changed.

There is literally only one note that this movie plays and it’s “DO NOT FORGET FOR EVEN A SECOND THAT HE KILLS HIMSELF.”

Seems weird for a movie that features David Foster Wallace warning a writer not to hit obvious beats and diminish his own story to turn around and cast him as a lethargic pixie dream boy who reminds an anxious writer of what’s really important (slow motion dancing.)

This movie was pretty cute, shot, written and acted with care on an extremely senisitive subject about an extremely sensitive guy. As you’d imagine, there’s a lot of hyperbole both glorifying Wallace and defaming him inaccurately, but I suppose it wouldn’t be a film if not. Segel gives a very well studied performance at times, but at others he can be a little to characature-esque. I don’t know why that is. The film also got way too cheesy and way too black and white, but the moments it wasn’t were the moments it was very insightful and well made. I enjoyed it quite a bit. Let’s hope I’m one of the folks that watched the movie because I’m reading Infinite Jest, instead of this movie making me read the book more.

Ho boy.