'Whiplash' is A Whip-Smart Entertainer that Doesn't Miss A Beat!

Rating: 9/10 (1 February 2016)

In Whiplash, JK Simmons plays Terence Fletcher - the tyrannical conductor of a prestigious music conservatory who believes in pushing them to breaking point and beyond in his own insatiable quest to unearth the new Charlie Parker. But while imposing impossible standards on everyone, it is talented drummer Andrew Neyman (Miles Teller) who finds himself singled out for the maestro's ferocious attention. So when Fletcher tells the promising percussionist to "have fun", you know he means the opposite. Unless your idea of fun is being bullied, humiliated, and played off against your hapless band-mates. But Andrew is determined to shed all the blood, sweat and tears it takes to become the band's lynch-pin. What follows is a sadomasochistic battle of wills between teacher and pupil, as Fletcher terrorizes, torments and humiliates the young recruit, pushing him ever harder to see whether he snaps to the rhythm, or breaks in two.
The ensuing film is a tour-de-force that defies easy stereotyping. Shot in 19 days on a shoe-string budget, Whiplash moves at a whip-crack pace that takes its rhythmic cues from drumming. Written and directed by Damien Chazelle and partly inspired by his own experiences as a jazz drummer in high school, the film offers dark, rip-snorting fun that inspires a whirlwind of emotions before leaving you on an exhilarated high. His script is adept at dropping explosive one-liners but it is also fiercely intelligent in the way that it poses questions while also serving up characters who are worth hanging out with. His direction, meanwhile, is pretty much pace- perfect in the way that it hits all the right beats yet is savvy enough and confident enough to toss in some curve-balls. The kinetic editing cuts with finger-snapping dexterity making the film pop with a rim-shot twang and adding a visual flourish.
At its racing heart beats a performance of splenetic majesty from JK Simmons as the fearsome Fletcher, a despot in F-major who conducts the music school like it's the Marine Corps, only with harsher language. He is a sinewy symphony of physicality, his poised fingers waving the drama onward apace, his endlessly expressive eyes alert and ablaze, and his razor-sharp mouth playing the paper-cut dialogue like a demonic fiddle. Teller is terrific too as the young gun bleeding for his art, wholly convincing as the raw talent in whom even the most poisonous taskmaster can hear the distant drums of greatness.
Damien Chazelles' greatest achievement lies in the fact that even when the drama descends into parodist para-diddles and melodramatic car-crashes, there's a splashy, impressionist energy which keeps us locked into its insistent rhythm. Come the last beat, you'll probably be exhausted. But you'll also feel entertained, inspired and wonderfully alive. For all its overripe contrivance, you'll leave the cinema with a spring in your step and a thump in your chest. The ovation starts here.