Rated R
106 minutes
Directed by Damien Chazelle
How far would you go to push people to their best?
This question is brought up in Whiplash, Damien Chazelle's debut feature, and at the end of the movie, walking out in a daze, you have no idea what the answer to that question is. On one hand, the actions of Terence Fletcher, the sociopathic band teacher (played brilliantly by J.K. Simmons) are extreme to say the least, but when seeing how Andrew Neyman (played by Miles Teller, who's rather impressive to say the least) tries to overcome them, it makes you think: Was it really worth it? There is no simple answer to that question, and the movie doesn't try to provide one. Instead, part of what Chazelle does so well is that he steps back, letting the actors do their thing, letting the audience interpret things without shoving them down our throats, thus giving the audience the benefit of intelligence, which is rare.
The movie never lets up, deciding to be as efficient as possible, without rushing or dragging. It moves quickly, but it never rushes. The film lets you experience things as they were happening, reveling at every twist and never sugarcoating anything. The person that I saw this movie with says that the editing was as tight as a drum, and I completely agree with that.
The director said he wanted this to be like a war movie, only with instruments and words being weapons, and he definitely gets that feel across. There are many sequences when you feel like you're watching a drill master (Fletcher) berate his newest recruit (Neyman) and that's due to both the editing and the performances. Simmons portrays his character as a tyrant who has a softer core, but who doesn't exploit it. He's still a hard-ass with a short temper and a knack for revenge, but he does have feelings and he acts on them, which sometimes results in harm, physically and mentally, to his students. Having somebody that great to play off of certainly helps Miles Teller. Teller plays his character with such emotion. He starts off as this meek little drummer with big hopes, and descends into something completely different, and Teller completely sells it.
If I did have one problem with the film, it was how they handled Teller's love interest. We're only given one romantic scene with them before they break up (in the trailer so not a spoiler), so we don't really care about them as a couple. However, that's able to be looked over because that 3rd act is a thing of beauty. The final sequence is probably the best sequence of events I've seen all year, and it brings the film to a scary good close, thus leaving the film on a high, and left me blown away. Greatly Recommended.
4/5
A-
The director said he wanted this to be like a war movie, only with instruments and words being weapons, and he definitely gets that feel across. There are many sequences when you feel like you're watching a drill master (Fletcher) berate his newest recruit (Neyman) and that's due to both the editing and the performances. Simmons portrays his character as a tyrant who has a softer core, but who doesn't exploit it. He's still a hard-ass with a short temper and a knack for revenge, but he does have feelings and he acts on them, which sometimes results in harm, physically and mentally, to his students. Having somebody that great to play off of certainly helps Miles Teller. Teller plays his character with such emotion. He starts off as this meek little drummer with big hopes, and descends into something completely different, and Teller completely sells it.
If I did have one problem with the film, it was how they handled Teller's love interest. We're only given one romantic scene with them before they break up (in the trailer so not a spoiler), so we don't really care about them as a couple. However, that's able to be looked over because that 3rd act is a thing of beauty. The final sequence is probably the best sequence of events I've seen all year, and it brings the film to a scary good close, thus leaving the film on a high, and left me blown away. Greatly Recommended.
4/5
A-
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