Whiplash

Greetings again from the darkness. The pursuit of greatness is not always pretty. No matter if your dream is athletics, dancing, music or some other; you can be sure hard work and sacrifice will be part of your routine. You will likely have a mentor, teacher or coach whose job is to cultivate your skills while pushing you to new limits. This film questions whether the best approach is intimidation or society's current preferred method of nurturing.

Miles Teller plays Andrew, a first year student at an elite Manhattan music conservatory. Andrew dreams of being a great jazz drummer in the vein of Buddy Rich. When offered a rare shot at the top ensemble, Andrew quickly discovers the conductor is a breed unlike anything he has ever encountered. The best movie comparison I can offer for JK Simmons' portrayal of Terence Fletcher is R Lee Ermey's Drill Instructor in Full Metal Jacket. This is no Mr Holland's Opus. Fletcher bullies, intimidates, humiliates and uses every imaginable form of verbal abuse to push his musicians, and especially young Andrew, to reach for greater heights.

Andrew and Fletcher go head to head through the entire movie, with Fletcher's mental torment turning this into a psychological thriller ... albeit with tremendous music. We witness Andrew shut out all pieces of a personal life, and even take on some of Fletcher's less desirable traits. Andrew's diner break-up with his girlfriend (Melissa Benoist) is much shorter, but just as cold as the infamous opening scene in The Social Network. At a small dinner party, Andrew loses some of the sweetness he inherited from his dad (Paul Reiser), and unloads some Fletcherisms on some unsuspecting family friends.

Writer/Director Damien Chazelle has turned his Sundance award-winning short film into a fascinatingly brutal message movie that begs for discussion and debate. The open-ended approach is brilliant, though I found myself initially upset at the missing clean wrap that Hollywood so often provides. What price greatness? Is comeuppance a reward? Are mentors cruel to be kind? For the past few years, I have been proclaiming that Miles Teller (The Spectacular Now) is the next John Cusack. Perhaps that bar is too low. Teller just gets better with each film. His relentless energy draws us in, and we find ourselves in his corner ... even though this time, he's not the greatest guy himself. Still, as strong as Teller is, the film is owned by JK Simmons. Most think of him as the dad in Juno, or the ever-present insurance spokesman on TV, but he previously flashed his bad side as the white supremacist in "Oz". Even that, doesn't prepare us for Simmons' powerhouse performance ... just enough humanity to heighten his psychological torturing of musicians.

You should see this one for Simmons' performance. Or see it for the up and coming Teller. Enjoy the terrific music, especially Duke Ellington's "Caravan". See it for the talking points about teachers, society and personal greatness. See it for any or all these reasons - just don't tell director Damien Chazelle "good job".

Whiplash is low budget film making at its finest, and surely promises big things from rookie director/writer Damien Chazelle. Seeing this film in theaters was the first time this year that I have completely enraptured (granted, I have not seen all of the top films that have come out so far). Also, I am a succor for quality films about musicians, and Whiplash ranks in my all time favorites in that genre. The tension did not let up from the very first scene, especially as soon as the incredible J.K. Simmons enters. Simmons, along with Miles Teller (who's Project X days are now long behind him) have some of the best on screen chemistry I've seen. They're connected; one cannot act without it affecting the other. The film is almost entirely focused on this relationship, and the simplicity definitely services the film. I hope people will go and see it and vote with their pocketbooks for excellent low budget films.

Taking the festival circuit by storm since its Sundance premiere in January, Whiplash is starting to feel like the underdog that could go far with its crowd-pleasing intensity. On the surface, it's a gritty story about a brutal student-mentor relationship that oversteps boundaries. Underneath, it's a piercing examination of the psyche of unbridled ambition. Whiplash is a film that stops at nothing. As a result, it's the best film I've seen in years, and I say that without hesitation. This is a film that resonates on every single level and every moment counts. If writer/director Damien Chazelle was striving for greatness as much as his protagonist, then he has achieved it.

Miles Teller, who's been steadily growing on me since The Spectacular Now, stars as Andrew Neyman, a 19-year-old aspiring jazz drummer who's pushed and inspired by the abuse and aspirations of his school band leader Fletcher, played by the ferocious J.K. Simmons like we've never seen him before. Chazelle has described the film as an origin story to the jazz musicians of the golden age, and it thrives on the myths of jazz heroes such as Charlie Parker. They're urgently looking for the next Parker, in search of perfection. But with that comes a great irony. The music genre is known as one for freedom of expression but here the jazz is soulless and mechanical, and that clouds the ethical judgment of the characters. Even so, Fletcher is a man who can tell if you have the right tempo within a bar. Although most of the audience for the film may not know much about music including myself, you get a feel for what he's looking for and when someone's wrong even if you don't know why. Simmons is as good as they say he is. He's a force of nature, with a terrifying presence that incites the fear Bryan Cranston achieved with the peak of his Walter White. But it's not a one-note performance. Simmons is still subversive with moments of weakness, insecurity, approachability, and he also sometimes brings in the lightness he's known for in other roles with Jason Reitman, exec producer here.

Even though he's an unlikeable character with nothing nice to say, he's still somewhat endearing and enigmatic, much like R. Lee Ermey's drill sergeant in Full Metal Jacket. This demasculinisation through a barrage of insults is a theme explored in Whiplash and it argues whether it's a crime or an 'ends justifying the means' factor of life. It's not just a music film, but also one that adapts to the elements of sports training, war at boot camp and biopic genres with the way it frames its elements. Fletcher is representative of the devil on our shoulders that yells at us that we're not good enough and that symbolic idea resonates deeply for me. His poisonous words are more a part of Andrew's psyche than legitimate coaching techniques. What grabs me about the film is its discussion on artistic perfection, and especially in these intimate and rough sequences of practicing. What is objectively great in art? When is it good enough, and why? It toes a fascinating line. That's why drumming is such an interesting choice for the film to explore because it's so instinctive. Drummers have to make decisions within a fraction of a second and talent can only take you so far. The roaring beat in Whiplash puts your heart in your throat. Teller's performance as Andrew is terrific, one to match Simmons.

Chazelle is committed on expressing the physicality of drumming and Teller captures it exhaustively without feeling contrived. It's the virtuosity of the writing that allows us into Andrew's head however. It's a long road to the top, but the script makes the right decision to allow him to revel in the little moments of success, but then to immediately test him in surprising and involving ways. Each turn of the story shapes his expectations and ambitions and then escalates it to the right point. While the film is a gripping experience nonetheless, in retrospect perhaps it is too bitingly cynical. It does suggest that you have to be deprived of a meaningful relationship to achieve your goals. It does appear to be very anti-positive reinforcement, but perhaps it's merely a statement on the abundant sheltering that the latest generation is enduring. Whiplash is refreshing to see, we all know we wouldn't be resilient enough to take that kind of punishment so it's cathartic to watch Andrew go through it all and see how far he'll go. His frustration, regrets, fear and rage with himself cuts to the core of the human condition as he's pushed further and further.

The technical aspects of the film help it become so stimulating with dizzying closeups tightly edited together and its the stark orange tinted cinematography. It's thoroughly impressive that the film was shot in only 19 days for them to get shots so immaculately timed and performed with all those complicated movements. There's a refreshing brevity to the film with its sharp atmosphere, but it's so rich in emotion, psychological tension and personal subtext. It neither rushes nor drags, on paper nor on screen. It really is a film that lingers in your mind for days, nagging you, like Fletcher over your shoulder. Maybe it'll continue to linger for weeks. I hope so too, especially for Oscar voters. It seems that J.K. Simmons is building momentum to be a lock for Best Supporting Actor at this point. However, Whiplash isn't just a best of year film, nor best of decade. It approaches best of all-time worthy with its identifiable themes of meticulous work ethics, fulfilling aspirations, resilience of the soul, and knowing when to no longer measure yourself to your mentor. I'll take this film with me for a while as a screaming motivator.

10/10. Best film of the decade.

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After seeing Damien Chazelle's Whiplash - a film the young up-and- coming director wished to do for some time now - being so beautifully realized and brought to life by everyone involved in the project, I was glad and relieved, mainly because I have seen the short film, which was pretty incredible.

I believe that among the most telling facts about a film's fortunes and qualities, is the ability to broaden it's public, but in the same time not forgetting that cinema is not all about commercial success and mass audiences.Or with other words - a film that is not just eye candy and booms and explosions, but also craft, soul, dedication and wits.

Those are some of the things not only the film itself possesses, but the people behind it have in abundance as well.

The upcoming Miles Teller plays the young and dedicated student Andrew Nieman, who has the drive, the ambition to succeed and to be great, which is fine, as long as it doesn't derail your personal life.A lesson the young drummer learns the hard way.

Blind ambition is the thing, that can describe our anti-hero of sorts, Terrence Fletcher a.k.a the brilliant J.K. Simmons, who has a thing for mindeffin' his students to the point of total physical and mental exhaustion and even depression.But he does it for a reason, for the sole purpose of finding the next big, even great, thing in jazz and in music as a whole.The next prodigy, the next "Yardbird" Charlie Parker that will be otherwise lost, if not being pushed to the very limit.

And boy, does J.K. Simmons nails it.Chazelle has done a masterful job in casting the two leads in Teller and Simmons.Their respective acts are full of purpose, full of tension and ultimately terrific.

Expect some awards going in the way of "Whiplash" and look out for Simmons in the Oscars shortlist, that's how good he is in it.And in his own words: "What a shame we wrapped it up in only 19 days".It must have been really fun playing a part like Terrence Fletcher and Simmons completely sold it.

As I said, the best movies are those, that reach out to the most diverse and wide spectrum of audiences, not those, who can connect to a massive number of people, who are representatives of only one specific audience type.And Chazelle has achieved just that with "Whiplash" - a precise, tension-building film, full of beautifully staged pieces and above all else, a love towards music and the challenges it often represents if you want to get to the very top.

The film ended in a big round of applause from the packed theater and I am sure that will be the case a long time from now!

My grade: 9/10

Nominated for five Oscars, and winning three (editing, sound and Best Supporting Actor, with nominations for screenplay and Best picture), 'Whiplash' is positively blistering, with a darker and more realistic view on aspirations and done in a way that's tense and inspirational.

Visually, 'Whiplash' looks great with grittily atmospheric photography with plenty of beautiful, gripping shots (like close-ups of the drum playing) and some of the tightest, cleverest and most audacious editing of any film that year. The sound is also thrilling in its intense authenticity, and really add to the impact of the pulse-racing Jazz soundtrack. There is in particular unbelievable drum playing that serves as a fond reminder of iconic drum players of the classic Jazz Age, the final drum solo is long but exhilaratingly played and a huge part of why the ending sends up a storm as much as it does.

The script is sharp and cutting, sometimes uncompromising and at other points patient. The story is not new, but makes a point of aspirations and talent having its dark and less glamorous side, competitiveness and that there are always obstacles (including dictatorial bullies). While not quite as extreme in life as shown here situations and people like seen in the film exist. The story is at its most successful in its tension between Andrew and Fletcher, which is thrilling and nail-biting, and Andrew's very relatable and inspiring drive and passion, and much of it is very taut and rarely laborious in pace.

Damian Chazelle directs with a clear love for film and the jazz style and passion for the subject. 'Whiplash' has great performances all round. The secondary cast do much with little and Miles Teller more than holds his own in a telling lead performance. This is JK Simmons' film however, proving that his Oscar win was one of that year's most deserved wins. He doesn't just dominate the film with his ruthless manner as a terrifyingly dictatorial character, but actually IS essentially the film, one's terrified of him but also understands his point of view.

'Whiplash' could have been slightly better this said. Most of the supporting cast, especially Andrew's family (the film at least tries to say why the romance was rushed and dropped, in that it didn't mean anything to him like his playing of music did), are severely underwritten and underused. The car crash scene and the aftermath also feels out-of-kilter and even the most committed musician wouldn't be in the right function to do what happens after that scene.

Otherwise, this is a blisteringly great film with a huge amount to recommend. 9/10 Bethany Cox