J.K. Simmons deserved his Oscar for his performance in Whiplash

Rating: 9/10 (2 May 2015)

Just watched this on Netflix disc with my mom. She was perhaps puzzled by many scenes especially the ending. She certainly wasn't in love with J.K. Simmons' pretty sadistic music teacher character. Simmons' Oscar-winning role does show quite the range of emotions concerning his wanting his students showing how much excellence-according to him-he wants to get from them. His recounting the story of Charlie Parker and of a former student who died-which he says happened one way but we find out later it was in a much different way-does humanize him in a way that one would feel for him. And Miles Teller is great as the one student who seems obsessed with this teacher in trying to achieve greatness. I also liked his scenes with Paul Reiser as his father. The one question one should probably ask is if the ends of the way the movie goes on justify the means that it achieved when it got there. So on that note, I highly recommend Whiplash.