Where did this movie come from...doesn't matter...you won't ever forget it...period.

Rating: 10/10 (31 January 2015)

This was the final film I needed to see for a couple of reasons. One it is the last of the Academy Award Best Picture nominees that I needed to see. It is also the last film I wanted to see before I went ahead and did my personal best of 2014 list. Good thing I waited because guess what? Whiplash is on it. Whiplash is headlining it. In the last three weeks of trying to see the best of 2014, I found THREE films that I am giving a huge ten to without hesitation. I suspected Whiplash would be good, I just don't understand where it came from. I may have seen a trailer once but for it to show up as a best picture nominee was perplexing. I didn't hear it doing particularly well or even any reviews on it. Whiplash is mesmerizing. Whiplash is an instant classic. Whiplash is probably the best film of 2014. I was entranced. My jaw was dropped for much of it and it is one of the best performances in a film I have ever seen. Whiplash is phenomenal and that doesn't do it justice. It is gut wrenching and expressive and explosive and if you are any kind of musician you will adore this film and if you love jazz or percussion music...well you'll just explode with joy. I could literally go back and watch this again as soon as the credits are done rolling and be blown away all over. Whiplash is a must see film in every sense of the word.
This is easily the performance of Miles Teller young career. This should cement him as a serious actor in any genre. He's funny...we knew that and quirky but this role proves he has chops. The fact that he plays the drums (how much of it was actually him matters very little) because he gives a very real and incredible performance. At first I wasn't sure he had the guts to stay on par with Oscar nominated JK Simmons (I'll get to him in a minute) but as the film went on I began to see him rise up and show some incredible grit and realize he was holding his own and carrying the film very well. Teller was amazing. If Teller was amazing then JK Simmons took his role to a place you rarely see. Call it a whole new plain of performance existence. Simmons playing the borderline insane Fletcher is stunning. He is frightening and evil and driven and somehow you begin to understand him and when you think he's softening he comes back with another blow. The relationship between these two is fascinating and incredible complex. Simmons deserves this Oscar without a single doubt. He's always been a great character actor but this is a whole new level. Paul Reiser, Melissa Benoist, Austin Stowell and Nate Lang are a few of the small supporting characters who do decently. But this is the type of film where you have two heavyweight performances and the entire film is focusing squarely on them.
Its actually amazing that Damien Chazelle who wrote and directed this film is very new to Hollywood. Its pretty rare to find raw talent that comes out of nowhere and gives you this incredible passionate story but you can easily tell this is a labour of love for him. The story seems to come from somewhere beyond just an active imagination, maybe some truth in there somewhere. Whether you're a musician or not, you will love this film. The characters are vivid and in your face and the story, while we've seen similar before, is unlike anything before it because of the actors and the way the story unfolds. I didn't want it to end. The film is definitely for adults given its extreme bad language bordering on gratuitous but it works in the context of the film. This is likely to be overlooked at the Oscars but make no mistake, there is a reason this is nominated. It is flat out brilliant. 10/10