Hugely entertaining but does it validate abuse?

Rating: 6/10 (28 October 2014)

Hard to rate this film because there's so much to like - the performances, the unusual story-line, and the fact that it's about jazz. Still what stays with me is what I liked the least about the movie - the fact that Fletcher's torturous and reprehensible methods seem to be validated in the end. I really wished the kid would have succeeded in spite of Fletcher and showed him that his methods only cause irreversible damage and sometimes even death. Abuse is not the way to make talent (artistic or otherwise) blossom - McCartney, Spielberg, Federer, Bach, Evert, Picasso, Da Vinci - there are countless examples of genius without without abuse. Maybe jazz is different? I doubt it.