«The road to greatness can take you to the edge»

Rating: 7/10 (17 October 2017)

Do you like films about the purposeful people who know what they want to achieve? Do you like movies about the men who overcome obstacles? If you say «yes», «Whiplash» is for you. The tagline of it is «The road to greatness can take you to the edge». This movie is a musical drama that depicts Andrew Neyman (the character of Miles Teller). He is a young jazz drummer and a student of the tony Shaffer Conservatory in Manhattan. He wants to be like his idol in drumming Buddy Rich. We can hear steady tap-tap-tap of a drumstick in this film because Andrew wants to improve his skill of drumming. He dreams of being great. The director of the best orchestra in the country Terence Fletcher notices Andrew. Fletcher wants to find greatness. He begins to train Andrew in drumming. And he uses cruel methods to do it. He throws chairs, slaps Andrew and other students and screams insults about their parentage. Fletcher tells Andrew that the worst thing you can tell a young artist is «Good job» as self- satisfaction and complacency are the enemies of artistic progress. I don't agree with this opinion. I am absolutely sure that every trainer should brace up and encourage young talents to give motivation to go on and to achieve the goals. Due to cruelty a man can get upset and give up even if he has a great purpose. I personally think that physical brutality is not always a good way to motivate somebody. Very often we can achieve more by encouraging people. Speaking about Andrew he becomes obsessive. He drums his hands bloody into the night to be worthy of Fletcher's tempo. Andrew wants to earn the approval of Fletcher and show him what he can. At the end of the movie he shows Fletcher that his drumming and playing a gig is perfect. This film is about the abuse of power. It is about an achievement- oriented and conscientious person. It is about drumming perfection and overcoming oneself. The main character has a crazy desire to be great. Despite the pain, the cruelty and blood he achieves his aim. Is violence necessary for high achievement? Everyone decides for themselves. I believe that this method is not always good. Besides, this film is about the battle between two strong men. Who is the winner for you? I really liked this movie. «Whiplash» is worth watching at least in order to hear a perfectly steady tap-tap-tap of a drumstick and enjoy excellent jazz music.