Like my old gym school teacher

Rating: 7/10 (18 January 2015)

The bullying nature of the bandmaster had me reliving those horrible days at school where a gym teacher had much the same approach to bringing out the best in his charges. Fifty five years on and I have grudging respect for the tactics of achievement by fear, but I still recall him as a rectal aperture who could have used more tender methods. J.K. Simmons plays the "rear exit" role to perfection, totally uncompromising in his almost unattainable standards (and a person who would be doing jail time under today's parameters).
It's a real debate as to whether a genius needs to be pushed or whether their natural talents will emerge from some internal drive. My old gym teacher certainly brought out some qualities in me that would still be latent if it hadn't been for the fear and humiliation factor. Miles Teller plays a wonderful part as a driven/obsessed youth, it seems that all of the great musicians excluded everything else from their lives until they became masters. After that most of them make up for lost time by piling headlong into booze drugs and women.. but that wasn't part of this story. I enjoyed the pace and tension of the movie , all of the parts were well cast and the dinner table scene was a wonderful display of the contrast between hero worship of Football Jocks and the dismissal of musical talent. But that's America , at least until the musician gets famous. I would have given the movie a 10 if it wasn't for the actual music itself ; Jazz to me is like a cinder caught under a door, I'm sure they're all magic musicians but I'd sooner hear three cats howling on the back fence at night than spend any time listening to this tuneless crap. Go ahead and hang me if you can find me, it should be easy, I'll be at any country/rock concert. Enjoy the movie in Cmajor7b5 cheers Billc