Whiplash – Film Review
Directed by: Damien Chazelle
Starring: Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons
Release Date: Out Now
Whiplash is the story of a promising young drummer who enrols at a music school with aspirations of becoming one of the greatest drummers ever known. While there, he is tested harshly, brutally even, by his instructor. Whiplash is based on a short story that Damien Chazelle wrote. It won the Sundance short film jury award back in 2013, which also starred J.K. Simmons in the same role. With the help of J.K. Simmons, and regular collaborator director Jason Reitman, they fell in love with the script and wanted it to be more than just a short film. And I’m so glad they did.
Have you ever wanted something so much, that you would give all your blood, sweat and tears just to get even a tiny bit closer to it? That’s exactly what Andrew Neiman (Teller), a 19 year old Jazz drummer, has to do in order to impress his new conductor, Terence Fletcher (a haunting, terrific performance by the fantastic J.K. Simmons). Andrew needs to show Fletcher how much he wants to be known as one of the greatest jazz drummers. Right up there with the likes of Buddy Rich and Joe Jones, people who, it should be noted, didn’t live particularly long lives, but go on in infamy.
This film is fantastic on so many levels. I went in excited, and as it continued, I just never wanted it to end. You will be glued to your seat from start to finish. Whiplash is a film that just pulls you right in. Despite the mellow subject of Jazz music, this has got to be the most intense film I have seen in a very long time. Even writing about it, just thinking about it, gets the adrenaline running again. J.K. Simmons deserves every single bit of praise for his performance. After winning a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor, there is little doubt that he is a shoe in for an Academy award.
It really is the intensity of Whiplash that keeps it going from strength to strength. It rarely shows any signs of slowing down, bar one or two scenes which are crucial for us to understand the characters. Andrew Neiman is a very arrogantly, egotistically-fuelled jazz drummer. We see this immediately during an early dinner scene, whereas Terence Fletcher is a haunting puzzle. Despite being flaunted most of the time as an abusive mentor, training people to be better than the best, there is more complexity to his character than the film would have you believe. He is difficult to decipher, and will probably be open to interpretation by audiences. Sometimes both of these characters show plenty of heart and respect for one another, but it’s when they aggressively compete with one another that you feel some serious chemistry.
The music in Whiplash consists of one of the best scores I’ve heard since The Grand Budapest Hotel; it blends seamlessly with the film. One might even suggest that the music in itself is a whole other character. Justin Hurwitz created a fantastic jazz orchestral score that you could listen to for days on end and never tire of it. Having said that, this may just be me after having become so addicted to it. The two main pieces, Whiplash and Caravan, performed by Hank Levy and John Wasson respectfully, are two of the finest jazz pieces you’ll hear in a long time. They really hark back to the golden age of Jazz, which is central to the film itself.
If I have anything bad to say about Whiplash is that it lacks a strong female character. Melissa Benoist plays Nicole, Andrew’s girlfriend, in a rather short and unimpressive subplot. Her main function is simply to convey how unsociable Andrew is and how fixated he is on becoming one of the greats. My only other complaint is that I wish it never ended. People have complained about the ending thus far. You may judge for yourself, but I feel that, considering what the film is about, and how intense it is, Whiplash couldn’t have ended on a better beat.
And for anyone skipping to the end of the review just to check the score, I should inform you: If you are expecting this to be a film about the villain Whiplash from Iron-Man 2, I’ve got some pretty bad news for you…
Score: 4.5/5
Written by Graeme Redmond
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