An enthralling and vicious drama

Rating: 8/10 (30 October 2015)

An exhilarating drama about an aspiring young jazz drummer who is pushed up to and over the edge by a sadistic college professor in order to reach his potential. What at first appears to be a standard story of a talented but difficult pupil being taken under the wing of an uncompromising and unconventional mentor soon moves into darker territory.
J.K. Simmons is brutal as Fletcher, the band leader who terrorises his students to breaking point in order to achieve perfection. The physical and verbal abuse he dishes out is shocking and it's hard not to feel anxious for the the young musicians as they perform under unbearable pressure.
Miles Teller plays the talented student Andrew Neiman, who initially comes across as an awkward and endearing loner but soon displays his own antisocial behaviours. Although some of the treatment he receives is hard to watch at times, the fact he is not a wholly sympathetic character makes it difficult to completely empathise with him and condemn Fletcher.
The performances of the two main actors are excellent and as the film progresses a psychological battle develops as Fletcher's intense ambition to discover genius by essentially shattering and manipulating his students resolve clashes with Andrew's determination to prove his talent at all costs.
This comes to a crescendo in the thrilling finale as the two main characters make their final moves, in a theatre packed with powerful music industry figures, to discover if Andrew really does have what it takes to become a jazz great.