There will be blood!

Rating: 9/10 (4 July 2015)

Who said that really good movies these days have to be big budget and star-studded?
Whiplash, put simply, is the story of a young music student hopelessly enamored with ambitions of becoming a great jazz drummer. Andrew, wonderfully underplayed by Miles Teller, is the anti-hero of the film. Fletcher, played by J.K. Simmons, is his teacher/nemesis at the conservatory.
There are basically two main sets in this movie: a dark concert hall and a dark rehearsal room at the conservatory. Sound boring and mono-dimensional? Think again! As Shakespeare has proved timelessly, the epitome of a good play is something that can still be riveting without car chases, fight scenes, exploding buildings, etc. by virtue of its plot and dialogue alone. This movie simply doesn't need any of this irrelevant eye candy to carry along what is fundamentally a simple premise, masterfully acted.
The cinematography is dark and brooding and augurs well for the character of Fletcher -- a complex and nasty man. Intermingled with his rages and browbeating, we see glimpses of a tender man who suffers for his craft. He is a perfectionist and demands nothing less in his students. When he spies Andrew and invites him to an audition with the main band, we are left wondering if he is just messing with Andrew's mind or genuinely interested in seeking the best talent for the conservatory. The question is not resolved until the end of the movie and its resolution is, indeed, one of the pillars of the plot.
Andrew is so driven and passionate about his craft that he is willing to sacrifice friendships and love interests. Neither pain nor serious injury can stand in the way of taking his rightful place -- in his mind anyway -- as principal drummer. He wonders if anybody at all really understands him -- including his sports-minded family -- but the answer soon becomes clear.
This movie rests on the strength of its characters. Paul Reiser plays a very minor role as Andrew's father but the supporting cast becomes almost invisible to the audience as the film progresses.
It would be nitpicking to say the resolution of Andrew's love interest left something to be desired, but that is my only criticism; the rest if virtually faultless. That being said, by the end of the movie we feel that we know a lot about the two main protagonists: their frailties, their shortcomings, their pride. There is military-grade cursing in this movie, but, strangely, it doesn't seem at all out of place.
Whether they are mortal enemies or admiring friends is a leitmotif that hangs in the air like a suspended note throughout the entire film. There are so many twists and turns in their relationship that we are left wondering until the denouement.
There is nothing predictable in this movie. The pacing is good: the 107 minutes just fly by. The surprisingly yet satisfyingly abrupt ending has no need for an epilogue. A few simple gestures and glances say more than an additional superfluous scene ever could. The final scene is both thrilling and inspiring.
If you want a break from unbelievable car chase sequences and the epic disaster movies that have recently been flooding the silver screen, this movie will be food for the soul and a source of wonderful refreshment.