Overrated, Overpraised, and Over the Top

Rating: 7/10 (17 January 2016)

Every one seems to like this film. It has received so many awards, earned 3 Oscars, and large amounts of near perfect reviews and praise from critics and moviegoers alike. While I agree that the film, without a doubt, has good performances and cinematography, I can't say that I enjoyed it overall. The film is about a young inspiring drummer named Andrew Neiman (Miles Teller) who enrolls at a cut-throat music conservatory where his dreams of greatness are mentored by Terrence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons), a brutal jazz conductor who will stop at nothing to realize a student's potential. The synopsis alone is a red flag. The plot is unbelievable. If it took place in the military or high school football, it would be more believable. Unoriginal, but believable.
The messages throughout Whiplash are bipolar, and very manipulative. We, the audience, are expected to believe that physical and emotional abuse at the hands of a tyrannical authority figure (in this case, Fletcher) are justified as long as it creates great music, somehow. Andrew doesn't love music, he is obsessive. His ultimate goal is to become "one of the greats" even if it costs him his happiness, family, and humanity in the process. He becomes an empty shell, dependent only on approval, no thanks to Fletcher who constantly abuses him over the course of the film. He goes through his band conductor's obedience training from hell, enduring a series of chair throwing, homophobic and ethnic slurs, and competing against other students. During this whole ordeal, Andrew slowly transforms into a broken human being who later cut ties with his family and girlfriend to pursue his self-destructive path to greatness. He doesn't learn anything new or useful, he just practices until his hands bleed--which no drummer in existence would ever do this to themselves, no matter how mad they are.
There is a moment in the film where Fletcher tells a story about Charlie Parker and how he got a cymbal thrown at his head because he screwed up a performance. Of course, this story isn't true, but the film tries to make you, the ignorant viewer, believe it is. Anyway, Fletcher uses this fictional story to justify his sadistic, over-the-top methods that he inflicts on students, especially on Andrew. He operates the band like a hard-ass drill sergeant more than a band conductor. He is not there to inspire and teach, but to put fear into the hearts of young students in hopes of molding them into better sold...uh, I mean, musicians. This character is by no means forgivable, rather a repugnant and unpleasant caricature that dishes out violent abuse. While the film tries--oh dear lord, does it try--to portray Fletcher in a sympathetic light when he mourns for the loss of his former student in one scene, I couldn't help but shake my head and say, "Really? Am I supposed to feel sorry for this bastard?!" That scene felt manipulative and forced, leaving me insulted when I saw it.
Whiplash is clearly made for people who have no interest in music, particularly jazz, and it shows. The film sacrifices realism and the love of music for the sake of melodrama, which is a darn shame because I went in with high expectations and this film did not deliver. Instead, I got a bleak and downright disturbing Hollywood film that is overrated, overpraised, and over the top.