Broken beats

Rating: 6/10 (1 February 2015)

Whiplash certainly lives up to its name, pumping out a high octane plot of male anger and obsession that positively pummels your senses throughout. Musically, it hits the mark generally, and if you're lucky enough to see it somewhere with a decent sound system, then the title track in particular will blow you (and roll you) away. The 2 leads are opposites and equals, sparking and bleeding off some unspoken tension and unrestrained anger.
Yet that's where I felt uncomfortable watching this, as a significant number of fellow audience members laughed uproariously at the racist and homophobic bullying of Fletcher. There's a claustrophobic tension that can be physically uncomfortable in this film, yet it can be exhilarating. I accept they're probably the same people who laugh at the Kevin Bacon adverts but hey ho....
As I mentioned before, its a macho movie and the one female character given any lines also has a mainly inconsequential story line and on reflection, I think this has less depth than could have been achieved with a bit more back story than a flunked family dinner and an accidental date in a bar.
It was slightly weird watching something that seemed to want to wring some empathy for a bully, however talented he may have felt himself to be, or however that may or may not relate to the birth of a genius in a completely different time and place. Whether that was supposed to be the overarching point remains moot in my opinion. High octane, high impact, hinrg.