Ultimate highlight here are the performances of the main actors.

Rating: 8/10 (12 November 2014)

In our memory we all have a teacher that was truly hard on us. Someone of them we admired and resented at the same time. Sharing my personal story, I use to have been a professional ballet dancer and had teachers who mentally and physically assaulted me and put me through some of the worst experiences of my life. My first female ballet teacher from age 10 till 13 use to, on a daily bases, would break a wooden ruler on my body or if I was lucky on bodies of someone else in the class. From age 13 till 17 we had psychopathic male teacher who apart from constant psychological abuse, would actually be assaulting us physically, which eventually got him suspended from the school many years later when he unleashed his rage on someone from the younger students who eventually got concussions. Now, those memories of my early ballet training with people that should have never been allowed around children created in me sense of willingness to work hard and succeed in this difficult artistic profession. After 12 years of professional career dancing in some of the best companies in the world, I am able now to forgive the horrors of my youth and try to look for positive spin on the training I had with people that in it's core were full of resentment and pain. They simply found position of power in their relationship with pupils and ultimate power corrupts, specially if they themselves did not had fulfilled careers in the first place. Would I have been less successful if I had normal teachers, I don't know. Motivation to prove someone wrong can also be a powerful fuel...
"Whiplash" written and directed by Damien Chazelle won an Audience Award at this years Sundance Film Festival among other awards and is gathered plenty of positive review, like this one on it's way. It seems everyone can identify with this subtly told story of the relationship between student and his mentor that takes dramatic turns as the story progresses.
"A promising 19-year-old jazz drummer Andrew Neyman (Miles Teller) enrolls at a cutthroat Shaffer Conservatory where his dreams of greatness are mentored by an instructor Terence Fletcher (J. K. Simmons) who will stop at nothing to realize a student's potential."
Young people specially in artistic professions are often very sensitive. They express their pain through artistic expression. Their life might not be the most financially stable and often a good teacher will demand more from the students that have a lot of potential. In "Whiplash" character played by Miles Teller displays that masochistic dedication to his craft that usually have potential to be turned in to a successful career. This is precisely why he is being pushed by J. K. Simmons character beyond exhaustion and mental breakdown. I am not a huge Jazz fan and yet I was absolutely captivated by the scenes of countless rehearsals and performances which created the state of constant tension and fatigue for the characters. The mixture of sweet, blood and tears is literally on display here. The way those scenes are edited created in the viewer sense of anticipation to look for a breaking point that will end the movie in a valiant outburst of a tragedy from one of the students. To Damien Chazelle credit he keeps the audience not only entertained but also surprised by twists and turns of story that with lesser writer/ director could become very predictable.
But the ultimate highlight here are two roles of the main actors. Miles Teller who apparently has been drumming since he was 15 years old, took additional lessons 4 hours a day, 3 days a week to prepare for the movie and let me tell you, he displays masterful control over the instrument. On top of the physical challenge he wonderfully displays the emotions that makes us root for him to succeed. In the past he played mostly in comedies however here he truly showcases his dramatic edge that works as a counter part towards J. K. Simmons character. There has been talk of J. K. Simmons might be getting a Oscar nomination for this role of sadistic, narcissistic teacher and indeed it would be justified one. In "Whiplash" the amount of venom that comes out of his being is intoxicating for the characters around him, as well as the audience. I am glad that he finely received opportunity to showcase his dramatic edge that might indeed bring him more work of this kind in the future. To be very picky I must say the Academy always likes to reward with nominations characters that display duality and bring aspect of sexuality to their performance which this character had plenty potential for which J. K. Simmons shy away from. That might have been a fault of the director though. Never the less J. K. Simmons delivers arguably his best work in his prominent career. As I mentioned before I am not a huge Jazz fan but I was very entertained by this complex character driven drama that is worth seeing for the performances alone. This film forced me to go back to my childhood and reevaluate my relationship with teachers that scare my inner self and yet in some way made me the person I am today for better or worse. Perhaps as they say what want kill you will only make you stronger...You decide this weekend by watching excellent "Whiplash".
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