Scaringly beautiful

Rating: 10/10 (29 August 2016)

Everybody has something in his life which makes you want to push yourself to your limits. With Andrew (Miles Teller) , it's jazz music. He has an almost irrational drive to get better at being the best jazz drummer in history. When he gets the chance to come to the class of Terrence Fletcher (played by J.K. Simmons), a well known teacher at the most prestigious music School in the USA, Andrew sees his future brighten up. Only he doesn't know the severity and seriousness with what Mr. Fletcher teaches his classes
Whiplash is a terrifyingly beautiful film about the things a person is capable of doing for greatness. Or as the Joker might say: "This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object." From the first scene of the movie we the perfect impression of what you're going to get throughout the movie, great jazz music and even greater performances by Miles Teller and especially by J.K Simmons. Every scene Simmons is in he draws all eyes to him, and he draws every breathe out of you, anxiously awaiting his reaction. In terms of villain factor, Simmons is right up there with Darth Vader, Voldemort etc. With the only difference that Simmons' character is much more realistic.
The movie does a great job setting up the character of Andrew, making you understand where he is coming from and what drives him into the decisions he takes throughout the movie. The scenes with his dad are especially powerful. Apart from the dynamic performances by the two head roles, the other factor that elevates this movie is the beautiful soundtrack! Never has a soundtrack impacted me this much, from being a jazz enthusiast to an absolute jazz guru. Immediately after the movie I went to search for the soundtrack along with some extra jazz songs to make myself my own personal jazz playlist. The great thing about the soundtrack of Whiplash is it's necessity to the story: every track brings it's own factor to the movie.
All in all, Whiplash succeeds in making a very fundamentantelly impactful film about success, desire and motivation, and the dangers it brings with it. It also succeeds at being the best movie of 2014.