Obsessive and Vigorous

Rating: 7/10 (15 March 2015)

(spoilers) "Whiplash", directed by Damien Chazelle, is another movie about a character with an obsession. It begs for comparisons to "Black Swan" from a few years ago. Where Black Swan was a hallucinatory, depressive, and obsessed trip into misfortune, Whiplash plays it mostly straight with the main character more in control, and a decidedly positive and redemptive ending. Whiplash then doesn't carry the punch as strongly perhaps, though it does have the same drive. It is a great watch, with Miles Teller character unable to stop his drive and obsession until flirting with near death and a car accident brought upon by misfortune and bad luck. You can identify his drive and feel the ferocity of it fanned by J K Simmons character, a legendary drummer and "drill sergeant" crossing the line into abusiveness. The obsession to succeed and exceed here becomes a drug, intoxicating and addicting, much like in Black Swan. Simmons rightly wins supporting actor award in this movie; he is a reminiscent of Louis Gosset Jr's Emil Foley in "An Officer and a Gentleman" in performance level. He is feared as he is respected, and he is a bully with a purpose such that the means justifies the ends. I enjoyed this strong movie. 7.5/10