One of the most powerful and intense movies ever made.

Rating: 10/10 (26 January 2015)

There are very few movies that can generate such a mixture of emotions whilst you're watching it. Whiplash is one of these exceptions. It's an edge of your seat thriller/ drama with one of the most unique relationships ever portrayed on film. The story that focuses on a young drummer (Miles Tellar) trying to impress his brutal and abusive teacher (J.K Simmons) is perhaps one of the best examples of a student- teacher relationship. The performances by Miles Tellar and J.K Simmons are nothing short of amazing. Tellar's performance is great as his character grows a huge amount in the film. Whilst drumming is a prime target for him, it becomes his obsession and he's determined to do anything he must to prove himself. Simmons delivers probably the best on screen performance I've seen in a long time. I mainly remember Simmons for comedic work such as Spiderman and Juno as well as his voice work in Portal 2. However, here you both love and hate the man. He's very reminiscent of R.Lee Ermey's drill instructor from Full Metal Jacket, however 10 times better. Every scene he's in, you're biting your nails as he is an incredibly unpredictable character and he deserves every bit of praise that he's getting The movie also has one of the most exciting and thrilling finales I've seen in a long time.
I can't say much more about this film, then to go out and see it. It's definitely my favorite film of 2014 and possibly one of my favorite films ever. It's intense screenplay, amazing performances from its two leads and the music score all help to make this one of the greatest movies I've ever watched.