Edge of your seat intensity

Rating: 9/10 (25 February 2015)

Read my full review here: http://ericsgoodstuff.blogspot.com/2015/02/whiplash.html
Oh man. I just saw Whiplash and I am still reeling. I can't remember ever having such an electrifying experience watching a movie (I swear I wrote that before finding the poster on the left with the word "ELECTRIFYING" in all caps). I was riveted, on the edge of my seat strung up with excitement by this thing. It'll have you on your toes, sometimes shaking with anxiety and other times bursting with anger and then joyously applauding at the end. Whiplash indeed.
Maybe it's because I had a taste for how nasty it was going to get, but I was just wiggling with anxiety, half anticipating/half dreading when the shoe would drop. And once it does for the first time you just never know when it's going to hit again. JK Simmon's performance is just gnarly and intense. He plays a man with a single-minded, unbending vision: create truly great jazz musicians, no matter the cost. For him, this means pushing them to the brink of their own destruction. The ends justify the means. He makes the tiger mom look like a cuddly kitten. At one point he pits three drummers against each other for hours on end. He dismisses the rest of the band while the three battle it out one after another and you can see Fletcher is in his element, relishing the opportunity to just dig in, give in to his rage, and make them suffer it out. Andrew plays until his hands are bleeding. This movie has more sweat and blood-stained drum sets then a Tool concert.
Writer/Director Damian Chazelle (who just turned 30) reportedly based the movie on his own experience dealing with an overbearing band teacher in high school. I did band all through school and even had a teacher that had some mildly-similar elements. (Also, did I mention the director completed this movie by the time he was 29?!? So impressive.) Fletcher's character is certainly extreme, with some complaining that it is unrealistically so, but it is brilliantly carried out. Yeah, we know that life as a jazz student isn't' exactly like this - so what? Keep watch for when he takes off his jacket, usually a sign he's doing what he thinks is his most important work. Miles Teller's performance of Andrew show's great range as well as his character transitions from a young hopeful pup to a cocky upstart, then a broken down hound dog and finally an experienced wolf that, although not a master, has a couple of lessons under his belt. Now that he's been through the first few bumps he's more dedicated then ever.
The movie really asks two questions: What does it really take to achieve greatness? And then the follow up, is it worth it? The final act is exhilarating, jump-out-of-your-seat kind of stuff. I do like jazz, especially the type in this movie. But I think even if you know nothing and care nothing for jazz, the performances, the visuals, the editing, and the resulting energy and dynamics of the final scenes will get anyone going. Even as you see the relationship between Andrew and Fletcher change and then change again during an extended musical sequence, you never know right till the last moment how it's going to end and what it means. And even then the movie still leaves it up to the viewer's interpretation. Maybe the answers that you think the movie is giving to those questions says more about you then about the movie.