Directed by:
Damien ChazelleScreenplay:
Damien ChazelleCinematography:
Sharone MeirComposer:
Justin HurwitzCast:
Miles Teller, J.K. Simmons, Paul Reiser, Melissa Benoist, Austin Stowell, Nate Lang, Chris Mulkey, Damon Gupton, Max Kasch, Jayson Blair, April Grace, C.J. Vana (more)VOD (2)
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Andrew Neiman is an ambitious young jazz drummer, single-minded in his pursuit to rise to the top of his elite east coast music conservatory. Plagued by the failed writing career of his father, Andrew hungers day and night to become one of the greats. Terence Fletcher, an instructor equally known for his teaching talents as for his terrifying methods, leads the top jazz ensemble in the school. Fletcher discovers Andrew and transfers the aspiring drummer into his band, forever changing the young man's life. Andrew's passion to achieve perfection quickly spirals into obsession, as his ruthless teacher continues to push him to the brink of both his ability — and his sanity. (Sony Pictures Classics)
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Reviews (14)
Whiplash works on the principle of a wrestling match. A treacherous, ruthless wrestler who breaks all fair play rules intentionally provokes the audience and tries to incite them against himself in order to (apparently) triumph over his opponent and whip up the emotions of the viewers to the maximum. The director manipulates his audience in the same way - and that's my fundamental problem with the film. I simply don't like manipulative directors, which is probably why I didn't warm up to Aronofsky and I have been avoiding Lars von Trier's recent works. On the other hand, Damien Chazelle brilliantly directed his film, and it's evident that he fulfilled the task he set for himself. He was able to lean on the excellent acting performances of both main actors, especially Simmons, who is absolutely convincing in the role of a tyrant, and it's clear that he savored that role. About halfway through the film, I said to myself: "Dear God, I'm watching a sports film whose scheme has been transferred to a different setting." This could actually work, more or less, in certain sports disciplines, such as combat sports, but it would probably work much worse, if at all, in team sports, because a similar coach's strategy would completely upset the team and ruin their psychology. And the idea that something similar could work in reality within a musical ensemble is completely absurd. However, yes, top conductors are often narcissists and it's not easy to work with them, but they would certainly not dare to apply something like that to their players, because only coordination ensures success. Moreover, I believe that in the school environment in America, they are very sensitive to barbaric behavior like that which conductor Fletcher exhibited toward his students, and he would come up against resistance from the students and their parents much sooner than the film suggests. In the end, I lean towards giving it only three stars because it's done for effect, which doesn't suit my taste. I want to believe in the film, and Chazelle didn't succeed in that. Overall impression: 60%.
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I don’t remember ever wanting to clap as hard during the end credits as I did this time. An excellent film, even though there is no one to root for and J.K. Simmons in particular portrays a monster only a tiny bit less scary than Anthony Hopkins’s character in The Silence of the Lambs. I wouldn’t be surprised if Whiplash wins Academy Awards for sound and editing, especially since it has no competition among music films with respect to sound.
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I long ignored this film due to its genre, but The Queen's Gambit has awakened something new in my film heart, a liking for sports or musical films, especially those about the journey to fame, where an outsider dazzles everyone, and this also applies to Miles Teller, who delivers a great performance. But it is J.K. Simmons who elevates the whole film from above average to perfection, covering 70% of the runtime, and whenever he is on screen, it becomes captivating, shocking, funny, rough, and uncompromising. He delivers a demonic performance, and for a long time, nobody in the film commanded as much respect as him. Surprisingly entertaining and engaging from beginning to end, the finale is exquisite. In the drama genre, I think it's the pinnacle. 10/10.
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Packed with energy (a real risk of leg cramps caused by nonstop stamping to the rhythm). Drummer Full Metal Jacket following the rhythm of the first Rocky movie which, however, often (and above all unnecessarily) scores its own goal by too obvious intensified emotional calculation in the behavior of (intentionally) not nice characters/plot twists. And so the same question can be applied to Whiplash, which the creators themselves indirectly ask the viewer during the footage: Was/is it worth it?
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It never occurred to me that I would see such a great and well-made drama. This movie is also about music, but the focus lies on the story and the relationship between the two main protagonists. The young and talented Andrew, played in an exquisite way by Miles Teller, gets regular dressing down from the brutal conductor Terence Fletcher, who might be a bastard with the best catchphrases in this millennium. The comparison of J. K. Simmons’ role to those of other movie psychos, for example from Full Metal Jacket or Apocalypse Now, is really apt. You won’t believe until you watch this. And the hardest to believe will be the ending itself, which for me immediately became one of the most important and fundamental dramatic film endings I have ever seen. I stared at the screen and sweated for the actors. This was one of the most challenging films I've seen in a very long time... but it was worth it!
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