Fantastic

Rating: 9/10 (16 November 2014)

A musical thriller? This one's hard to categorize. One might say it's the exact opposite of an inspirational teacher movie, like Goodbye Mr. Chips. Miles Teller plays an eager drumming student at a music conservatory. He captures the attention of the head honcho of the school's peak band crew, J.K. Simmons. A normal person would wish they hadn't, because the guy's a total psycho. One wrong note or beat and the guy'll be roaring every curse word in the book at you. He's a legend, though, so no one would ever dare stand up to him. Teller is not a normal person - his dream is to be one of the best of all time, so he tries his damnedest to take Simmons' rage in stride. It's not easy. This film is simply gripping. Teller is amazingly focused. One ought not to disregard his physical performance, either. While the editing probably helped him survive this, he really is going to town on those drums. Simmons gives a performance for the ages. I wanted to murder this dude. As a supporting character, the film doesn't get too deeply into what his deal is, but the little bits that are shown are fascinating. The finale is absolutely outstanding. One of the year's best, no doubt.