Pluses/Minuses, yet definitely worth the watch in any case

Rating: 9/10 (6 January 2015)

Loved the way _Whiplash_ played perilously on the margins of the question of whether the teacher really cared or didn't care a whit about his young charge. The direction/acting/cut make it so that, at times, I was on the verge of concluding that the teacher really was, simply, an unregenerated, cold-blooded ba5tar9. It struck me that J.K. Simmons could easily have R. Lee Ermey whimpering like a little girl.
The technical work around creating believable musical milieus was lovely. You really believed in the musicianship of all the actors.
Not exactly a "date" flick, eh? The strong allusion to the fabled mutual exclusion between the drive to excellence and boy/girl romance came off (to me) like a fatal dose of c0ckbl0ck. I can imagine loads of date couples walking out of the theater with dark clouds of impending argument/cold-shouldering trailing behind....
I felt an overall pacing issue. We're invited to believe in the young man's initial musical/skill aptitude and his development over the timeframe depicted. At times, it _did_ feel like they pushed a little too hard. I can understand the constraints (and I feel another accolade coming on): The story was just too big for the standard time constraints of popular film practice. Whereas so many films feel like they go on too long--only to find that they faithfully hewed to the 90- minute running time--the ending of _Whiplash_ comes too fast. When the end credits start rolling, you blink in astonishment. And there was a bit of a "time accordion" effect as you're watching the flick, like trying to squeeze a dockworker's ham-foot into a svelte high-heeled pump. Perhaps they should have created a double-length feature, with entr'acte, like the big-budget epics of yore. But I can imagine the suits at the studios doubting the worthiness of that tack, balking at the very idea. Damn their bottom-line eyes!
Loved J.K Simmons in this. He was generally well-directed, and always amazes in taking direction. Speaking of direction, the only place where I felt there was a lapse was at the very ending, when J.K. was (I presume) directed to play it a bit over the top. Besides being poor direction, it struck me a bit unworthy of a flick about excellence in jazz, seeing how good jazz manages tone with control and taste. Kinda sad to see this little ball get dropped at the very end!
But my remonstrances are minor compared to the overall impression, which is... very impressed, indeed.
Great story, good production, (generally) good direction, fine acting, warmth, fire, charm, high drama, great music... really, a very worthy piece of film work. Check it out.