Whiplash – 4/5 stars

“There are no two words in the English language more harmful than ‘good job.’”

Enrolled at the most prestigious music school in the world, young Jazz drummer Andrew Neimen (Miles Teller) catches the attention of the renowned Terrence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons) and is invited to join his studio band. Andrew quickly realizes the intensity of Fletcher’s band and that he will stop at nothing to push his musicians to greatness.

Whiplash was a super intense and compelling story that asks “where do you draw the line to achieve greatness? Does the end, becoming great, justify the methods used to reach it?”

This is why Fletcher pushes his band members to the brink by yelling at them, cursing in their face, humiliating them and even throwing chairs across the room at them. He uses these extreme methods because he believes there is no line for how hard to push them – if they are meant to be great, they won’t ever give up. If they do, they were never meant for greatness to begin with.

Fletcher drives Andrew to obsession where all he does or thinks about is drumming. He pushes Andrew to drum until his hands are raw and bleeding and then continues to push him, for the sake of him becoming “a great.” In one sense, the sheer dedication is inspiring and in another, it’s completely insane, like Navy SEAL training on a drum kit. 

For some musicians, they are so serious about their music that this movie is likely similar to their reality. To be the best and become great, they have to give 100% of their dedication. It just depends how bad they want it and if they can be pushed far enough to reach it.

Both Teller and Simmons were fantastic in this film; Teller as the dedicated drummer struggling to become the best and Simmons as the extremist pushing his students well beyond their limits.

Whiplash was directed by Damien Chazelle (La La Land, First Man) and it won three Oscars for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (J.K. Simmons), Film Editing and Sound Mixing. All of which seem well deserved.

Although I’m not a fan of Jazz, I can still appreciate the talent and dedication in this film. I rated Whiplash 4/5 stars and was very impressed with it. It was very intense, but the payoff was worth it and it’s definitely something I’d recommend watching if you haven’t yet. Whiplash is currently available to stream for free on IMDb TV.