Whiplash: Teacher Abuse has never had such rhythm

Rating: 8/10 (8 February 2015)

J.K. Simmons has always been "that guy in that thing" and he really has been in a lot of things from Spider man, Farmers Insurance commercials, to a family sitcom about a blind guy. And while Simmons has been around awhile, he hasn't really been given anything to sink his teeth into. In comes young upstart writer/director Damien Chazzelle and his jazz ensemble epic "Whiplash".
Whiplash has the unique honor of being the least profitable film to be nominated for best picture at the Academy Awards (along with Chazzelles script and Simmons for supporting actor) but for a film that appears so small, it is one of the biggest and most epic viewing experiences of the year.
One of the reasons I loved Whiplash is that it surrounds a subject matter that I have little knowledge on, the world of surprisingly competitive jazz ensemble. Jazz music is all about precision, technique, and patience and all of those are on display in explosive fashion. The story follows a young aspiring jazz drummer Andrew (Miles Teller) who dreams of greatness while at the Schaefer Music Conservatory in New York. All of the students hope to join the exclusive Jazz ensemble led by the tyrannical Terence Fletcher (Simmons) who puts the title of abusive teacher to a whole new level.
Everyone has had that one teacher or coach in their lives that was unbearable. They would scream, criticize, and cause you so so much emotional abuse that caused you to fail more than the class or sport ever could. Few films have ever been able to capture this idea better than Whiplash as we watch Fletcher verbally emasculate his band members to tears and physical torment that is almost too much to watch. It's hard to say why Simmons was so effective here. He has the deep menacing voice, threatening eyes, and is looking surprisingly jacked in his black t-shirts (seriously, is Simmons gonna be the next Marvel super villain or something?) that help make him the bane of existence for all of his students.
You also can't talk about Whiplash without mentioning the lead role of Miles Teller. Teller is one of Hollywoods talented up and comers (especially if you've seen him in "The Spectacular Now") and he almost seemed to be the heir apparent to Vince Vaughn as the funny, fast-talking, likable schlub who could go on to lead comedies for the foreseeable future. This is actually the most different Teller then we've seen in his young career. His character of Andrew is of a socially awkward and talented musician who hasn't had a lot of success in life and will do anything to establish himself and make it so he is remembered for being "great" long after he's gone (shown perfectly during the dinner scene with his family, maybe the best scene in the film). To do this, he is willing to take Fletcher's abuse and use it as the motivation to prove he is great.
Anyone in the teaching/coaching profession can tell you that arguably the most difficult aspect of the profession is motivating your students. Fletcher's choice to use fear as his motivational tool proves to have varying success rates as he very easily breaks his students but their fear of him pushes them to be perfect because that is what he expects. You grow to hate Fletcher so much throughout the film that when it gets to a point in the film where he explains he cruelty it messes with you emotionally because you begin to somehow empathize with him. The fact that you can show any sympathy towards the character after what you've seen him to is a feat in itself and the credit goes to Chazzelle for shaping the story that way.
I hate to use the term "emotional roller-coaster" few films of recent memory fit that cliché better than Whiplash. The Jazz genre really fits the flow of the story because it can be easy going and calculated one minute to explosive and heart-pounding the next. Being able to fit so much size into a small budget film like this is amazing and a screenplay Oscar for Chazzelle should be in order if there was any justice in the world. I don't know if Chazzelle had a film teacher who was as harsh as Fletcher who pushed him as hard, but one thing is for sure is that, much like Andrew, Chazzelle seems like he wants to be great and I can't wait for him to continue to prove that.