An Inspirational and Powerful Thrill Ride

Rating: 10/10 (17 January 2015)

I had been hearing that Whiplash was one of the best films of 2014 from many people so I decided to go ahead and give it a whirl. Lucky for me I was not disappointed. Not in the slightest.
Whiplash is a powerful depiction of ambition. Miles Teller plays Andrew, a first year student at a prestigious music school. He is a talented drummer, with the single goal of becoming one of the greats. Right at the start he is noticed by one of the respected teachers at the school named Fletcher, played by J.K. Simmons. From here on you experience the back and forth between the student and the teacher as Andrew tries to persevere through the cutthroat approach of Fletcher.
J.K. Simmons does an absolutely phenomenal job as Fletcher. Throughout the film Fletcher goes to the extremes to motivate and push his students to be better. His single focus is being the best, and any less than that just won't cut it. During each scene you can see the anger and frustration building within Andrew as Fletcher constantly berates him for each and every mistake. There isn't a single boring moment during the film. The two performances from Simmons and Teller carry the film with their incredible chemistry.
It's inspirational watching Andrew push through the challenges he faces during his quest to be the greatest. At the same time you feel sad for him, as you experience during multiple moments of the film how much his dedication and ambition take a toll on his life. Whiplash takes you on an emotional ride through success, failure, happiness, sadness and a continually building tension as the two personalities of Andrew and Fletcher clash.
I would be very confident in predicting some Oscars for Whiplash, most notably J.K. Simmons winning the Oscar for best supporting actor. If you are reading this review after the fact, and Whiplash has indeed won some Oscars, rest assured these awards are most certainly well-deserved.