Energetic

Rating: 9/10 (24 February 2015)

I waited to see this movie on the theater knowing that was a music-themed feature, I was right in that decision. The movie tends to have that short-film soul; it goes straight to the point, from beginning to end, the story is simple but well placed and executed, we see what we need to see, a few main characters and settings, in other words minimal but powerful, this movie cuts all the bells and whistles we tend to see in an Oscar nominee feature to focus on making us feel empathetic with the story.
The movie gave us moments of true energy on the screen, the tension we felt from the actors was great and real. J.K. Simmons truly delivers that professor that we feared at school but at the same time the one that we learned the most because he drove us to our very limits. Miles Teller delivers an excellent use of facial expression, he puts us on the spot of what being a student used to be; the want to be the best. Also, Teller gave us an outstanding representation of being a drummer, I applaud the fact that 40% of the soundtrack we hear in the movie was actually him.
The movie lacks of great cinematography and camera direction, it's really simple and there is nothing special about it that's why I'm rating it a 9 instead of a full 10.
I love the fact that it came from a short-movie and ended being a full feature film nominated and awarded by the Academy without losing it's soul in the process. Damien Chazelle gave us a great story and I am sure I will keep an eye on him.