An ACTION movie about Drumming!

Rating: 8/10 (15 February 2015)

I have completed my quest to view all of the pictures nominated for the Academy Award this year with my viewing of WHIPLASH.
And I finished my quest with a BANG!
Whiplash is, basically, a "two-hander" between drum student Andrew (Miles Teller) and his teacher/mentor Terence Fletcher. Sounds boring, right? Not one bit. This movie has as much action as the best thriller.
Front and center of this movie is the BRILLIANT portrayal of Fletcher by Simmons. He has walked away with just about every major Supporting Actor award this year and deserves every one of them. It is a "tour-de-force" performance and is the best acting performance of the year - Lead or Supporting, Male or Female - BY FAR. Fletcher is menacing, sharp, cutting, brilliant and, yes, vulnerable. it is this last trait that really makes the character. For if he was all blunt force and bravado, this character would seem too one note. But he is not, he is complex. Which makes him well worth watching.
Of course, a performance like this would not be memorable if he did not have a strong performer to play against and Miles Teller more than holds his own. It was also welcome to see Paul Reiser appear in this film as Teller's father. I sure hope we get to see more of him in the future.
Director and writer Damien Chazelle crafts a motion picture about drumming - DRUMMING! - expertly and the final performance/showdown between Teller and Simmons is an action sequence plain and simple. The fact that this "action" is a drum solo makes it quite remarkable, indeed.
Still hanging on in theaters (to bring in the Academy Awards crowds, like me), WHIPLASH will soon be out in home video. Check it out, if for nothing else to see the performance of the year by JK Simmons.
8 (out of 10) stars and you can take that to the Bank (of Marquis)