JK Simmons is the ONLY reason to see this

Rating: 8/10 (5 October 2014)

Whiplash chronicles a jazz drummer's tumultuous relationship with a volatile instructor. While this is well acted and shot beautifully, Whiplash fails to catapult itself to greatness with bogging down its story with rather wooden supporting characters and a slow as molasses storyline. Whiplash tells the story of Andrew, a jazz drummer coming into a cutthroat art school and his instructor, Terrence Fletcher, an off the wall and emotionally abusive instructor. The strengths of Whiplash lie solely in the hands of J.K. Simmons. Simmons delivers a tour de force performance, turning a fiery rage into something inspiring for our lead, Miles Teller. Simmons has some truly great scenes, spouting off profanity laced rants when trying to bring out the best in Andrew. The scenes with Simmons send the film into overdrive, making you want to know what happens next. However, this feeling of excellence on screen quickly turns into boredom as we see Miles Teller try to captivate us the same way his co-star did and falters. At the end of it all, this comes down to talent. J.K. Simmons sets a high bar for his co-stars, and this actually ends up hurting the film because of his performance. Miles Teller seems as if he can't keep up in scenes with Simmons and rather than captivating us with his relentless drumming until his blood hits the sweat filled drum kit, it actually ends up feeling as if he is trying too hard to top his co-star in regards to intensity. This creates for an uneven film, one that never truly becomes the masterpiece it wants to be. Despite these lesser qualities, Whiplash does feature some truly great scenes of Simmons berating his students with some of the best delivered insults this side of Full Metal Jacket. Damien Chazelle does showcase his talents, lingering on the physical and emotional tolls that the environment takes on Andrew and other students. Despite this quality, Chazelle fails to connect his characters to his audience. But one thing that won't be lost in translation is where these characters are and how competitive it is. Quite honestly, I feel this worked better as a short film. There is simply not enough for audiences to latch on to or enough for them to care about. But one thing is for sure, J.K. Simmons is ON FIRE in this film and delivers one of the best performances of his career.