A Disturbing Film--And a Masterpiece?

Rating: 8/10 (27 April 2015)

On the front end of this review, let me note that as a rule I try to never write spoilers, and this review certainly will not be that--but as the review goes on I will be commenting on where the film goes, in a general sense, at its conclusion. You've been warned.
That said, "Whiplash" is one of the more challenging films that I've written about since I started the practice of writing a review here each time I watch a movie. It's hard to put into words how I feel about this film. It's disturbing, hard to watch, and puts its audience through a type of mental stress that eclipses most horror movies or suspense films. It's a story that is almost impossible to like, and as such it's very hard to say that I "liked" this film. And yet by the same token, it was an amazing piece of art. The movie is thoroughly well made, well produced, well acted, and well scripted. It's essentially a brilliant train wreck of movie--it hurts to look, but it's nevertheless captivating. In that regard the movie is well worth the watch.
Now, let's talk about the plot itself. It's no spoiler at all to say that the movie revolves around an abusive student-teacher relationship, and more to the point it features an abusive college professor who has let authority go to his head--that much you can get just from watching the film's trailer.
The film features a young drummer (Miles Teller) who has enrolled as a freshman at a well to do music school who then sets out to join the school's "studio band". We quickly learn that the band leader, "Terrence Fletcher", played by J.K. Simmons (J. Jonah Jameson from the "Spider-Man" movies), is an egomaniac who likes to scream at students, curse profusely, and even throw things in the middle of rehearsal. Fletcher takes on the young drummer, and sets out to "motivate" him through the most inhumane of mentally abusive instruction conceivable.
I might note that Simmons earned the 2015 Academy Ward for Best Supporting Actor for this role, and that award was well deserved. Simmons truly makes the movie, which is a strange thing to applaud someone for given that you can't watch this film without coming to hate his character. Nevertheless, the performance deserves strong praise, and its easy to see how and why the Oscar came his way for this movie.
Still, the film is a bizarre amalgam of emotional abuse--both of its characters and of its audience (at one point my girlfriend wanted to turn the movie off altogether, but we made it through)--and brilliant film making. Dr. Fletcher becomes every much as devilish as any villain in any horror or suspense film, all while the movie makes the viewer empathetic and invested in its characters.
Now for the slight spoiler which is unavoidable if I'm to offer my biggest criticism of the film. The big problem with this movie is that its conclusion leaves the audience wondering if Dr. Fletcher's instructional tactics were perhaps well founded, inasmuch as the film ends with its main character (Teller) accomplishing a tremendous musical feat that appears to be the product of his being pushed so hard by his tormentor.
This being the case, one cannot watch the film without wondering what the message is supposed to be. Is this a movie that is promoting emotional abuse? Is it promoting bullying? Does the film essentially endorse the bizarre abuse of power that its main antagonist personifies throughout the film? While any of these criticisms may be slightly overdone, it's nevertheless true that the awkward ending to the film is troubling.
And yet in spite of all of the above, the film nevertheless is powerful, if for no other reason than that it leaves such a powerful impression on its audience. What exactly is being communicated in this film is sure to be a topic of much discussion, but what's for sure is that the movie will captivate you, even if that captivation may prove to be uncomfortable.
That said, I wrestled with whether to rate this movie an 8 or a 9. It's extremely well made and powerful....yet its also a film that's just hard to "enjoy" in spite of itself. Thus my 8. Still, I can see how many will watch this film and immediately label it a classic, if not a masterpiece. It's great cinema--just be prepared to be uneasy during and after the movie. Thus my 8 stars.