It's got no soul

Rating: 3/10 (1 March 2015)

Not just in the music, but the characters as well. There's no soul in the main character's musical drive--he doesn't do it for his love of music, but more for his desire for fame. When he gets rejected, he goes home and takes down all the posters of his drumming idols and disassembles his drum kit. Now, I might just be a novice drummer, but if I got let go from this asshole teacher's band, I would be much happier for it and continue drumming for fun, on my own accord. The kid doesn't seem to listen to much except the technical side of drumming (Buddy Rich), and focuses more on how fast he can hit the drum rather than how to incorporate the drums into the rest of the music. This movie makes it seem like the drummer is supposed to hog the show, or at least it celebrates it at the end. Sure, the kid was "pushing his boundaries", but it doesn't necessarily make for good music or make a good musician.
This is without mentioning the parts that detract from the realism, such as his constantly bleeding hands (I don't think Charlie Parker or Buddy Rich lost a gallon of blood each session) or his incredible one-hit KO through the snare (I've tried this before, and am slightly less scrawny than this kid--no dice). There are only two characters in this movie. The rest are so flat I can hardly notice them. His love interest might as well have been left out because there isn't enough of her to make you care about their relationship, and what we do see is that he's kind of an arrogant douche boyfriend. Hard to relate to this type. There are good performances by the two characters, but that's the only thing carrying this movie. The writing is packed full with homophobic slurs that quickly tire out, and unconvincing dialogue abounds.
I like drumming, I like jazz, and I respect musicians who work their asses off. But I couldn't sympathize with any of the characters. I found only superficial lessons (if "'Good job' kills artists" is even a lesson), and couldn't feel any heart in the music. I think most people were impressed with the well-acted shouting and fast drumming and "artistic insight". This is not how creative music is made, and, despite my hopes and wishes, this is not a creative movie.