As an amateur musician...

Rating: 6/10 (5 February 2019)

As an amateur musician, I really couldn't enjoy this. It is not really about jazz, let alone music. It's a movie about an abusive teacher and an obsessively self-destructive student, that uses the world of jazz music as a contrivance. Because so few people are familiar with the world of music, let along jazz, the movie is able to use this contrivance to create drama by divorcing itself from any kind of reality, under the pretence of insight.
This wasn't a music movie, it's a sports movie (ht Adam Neely). It takes the tired sports formula, and substitutes football for jazz, with such a low level of realism the average person would be able to spot its absurdity from a mile away. It's terribly cringy, if not downright absurd. I doubt many people would rave about a movie about an abusive coach and a football player (who is obsessed with a very old deceased football player) on a team where no-one really loves football, no-one talks about football, and no-one care about their team-mates, and no parent cares if the coach is abusing their kids, etc. But substitute football for jazz, and apparently, this movie is critically acclaimed? Why? There are far better films about abuse, education, obsession. But I guess there are very few films about jazz, and so this imposter seems insightful to some. Trust me. Its not. This is depraved absurdist fantasy.
Why 6/10? Because it is stylish. Well enough structured. It has one good music scene. And it seems to connect with audiences. So who am I to judge? :)