Whiplash

For many, Whiplash was this years surprise package in the awards seasons, picking up several awards, mainly for J.K. Simmons excellent supporting performance as brutal yet passionate music instructor Fletcher, yet I felt there were many more dimensions to this excellent film. This film, a great reflection as what many would describe as today's cutthroat world of music. The film is not a fantasy, but a great representation of the brutal reality that success comes from hard work, as Andrew (Miles Teller), finds out from the harsh lessons taught to him by Fletcher (Simmons).


Despite many of the plaudits (and almost certainly an Oscar) going to J.K. Simmons for his brilliant portrayal of Fletcher, I feel that much like Channing Tatum in 'Foxcatcher', Miles Teller's captivating performance as the ambitious, hard-working Andrew, whose dream is to play the drums in the core band at the Lincoln Center (the world's most prestigious arts institution) is very much underrated. Teller's character is extremely complex, and explores a wide emotional range. The way his character develops throughout the film is inspiring, coming from an ambitious yet vulnerable victim to Fletcher's tormenting at the start, to a triumphant champion at the end having stood up to the bully that is Fletcher and his journey represents a true story that if you work hard enough and are dedicated, even put your mental and physical health on the line much like Andrew did, you will be successful. However of course the star really is J.K. Simmons, his portrayal of Fletcher really is one of the best of any of the films nominated for awards this year. If Teller's emotional range wasn't already enough, Simmons really poured almost every emotion into his performance which made Fletcher the standout character in the film, and has pretty much guaranteed Simmons an Academy Award. Despite Fletcher's sheer vindictiveness and brutality, the look on his face when he is playing the piano in the jazz bar and when he conducts his band go past the vicious outer shell, and allow the viewer to understand his character with full transparency. The abusive yet comedic element to Fletcher totally rounds his character perfectly, and Damian Chazelle's choice of J.K. Simmons makes perfect sense as he really did make this film utterly fantastic.


It wasn't just the acting for me that made this film great, the excellently filmed scenes where Andrew is playing the drums and Fletcher is conducting the band make for great cinema, with the camera flow truly excellent. As well as this, a music film can't be complete without a good soundtrack, and the jazz played throughout the film really made me want to get into jazz myself, so a very intelligent and provocative soundtrack. Overall, I felt that Whiplash was a truly powerful and excellent film, with outstanding acting, great camera work and on the whole for me it was a real 'fuck you' to the cheesy films about music, and a film I really recommend anyone to watch, a total 10/10.