Whiplash (2014) Directed by Damien Chazelle. Starring: Miles Teller, J.K. Simmons, Melissa Benoist. IMDB says: “A promising young drummer enrolls at a cutthroat music conservatory where his dreams of greatness are mentored by an instructor who will stop at nothing to realize a student’s potential.”
“Not my tempo”
I play the drums. I got my first set freshmen year of high school in 2003. It was a Tama Stagestar and was delivered the day of the Homecoming Dance. Guess who felt sick and couldn’t make it to the dance that night. I played and played and played and played. At first it was just noise but I got better as I began to study my favorites. Buddy Rich, Jon Bonham, Neil Pert and Mitch Mitchell, led me to experience other music and appreciate percussionists like Ginger Baker, Fela Kuti, Art Blakey, and Gene Krupa. Playing the drums taught me that there are drummers and then there are percussionists. I’m a drummer. I put a playlist on my iPod, put the headphones on, and drum along to my hearts content. This film is about percussionists. Percussionists study the music, the artists, practice rudiments, read sheet music, and are able to transcend the form and create their own language. It makes me wish I took band class more seriously in school. Anyway, when I heard of this movie, I was intrigued from the get go. It’s about drumming and it has J.K. Simmons? I’m in.
Whiplash. Holy fuck. I haven’t felt so breathless yet invigorated after leaving a movie theatre in a long, long time. Before I gush too much, Whiplash is the story of Andrew (Miles Teller) a student at a music conservatory who comes under the radar of Fletcher (a ruthlessly intense J.K. Simmons) and is invited to join a prestigious group of students in the school’s studio band. Andrew has no idea what to expect but quickly realizes the pressure he’s under when Fletcher unleashes a barrage of insults that would make R. Lee Ermey blush in the search for perfection (and that happens seconds into the band’s practice and doesn’t stop). From there we follow the rare ups and insane downs Andrew experiences through band practice and their performances at concerts. We divert occasionally so you can see how this relentless search for perfection affects Andrew’s social life. At times it feels like the family dynamic (his dad is played by Paul Reiser) and the romantic subplot with Nicole (Melissa Benoist) are just tossed in for good measure, but it really shows the changes Andrew is beginning to experience emotionally. He goes from a bumbling aww shucks kid to a confident percussionist prodigy, but at what cost?
This film answers that question and really explores the passion and insanity in the search for perfection thanks to award-worthy performance from both Teller and Simmons. Simmons commands your attention with every scene he is in and Teller is just downright impressive on the drums. I can’t stress enough how fantastic they were. I could sit here and type away long, strung together adjective and adverb laced sentences describing how good their performances are, but it’s best if you just go see the film and find out for yourself. Performances aside, the film is gorgeous. Writer/Director Damien Chazelle works with a darker, yet beautiful color palette and uses some cool camera shots and edits to make the drums feel like another character in the film. There is no real score, just a constant barrage of percussion and the music we hear the band play. If you’re into jazz you’ll really dig it, and if you’re not, I think you’ll walk away with an appreciation, but you won’t go out and start buying Coltrane or Brubek albums. I wish this film received a wider release so more people have a chance to see it. If you’re lucky enough to have a theatre near you playing it, definitely check it out. If you’re not so lucky, keep an eye out when it lands on VOD, Netflix, Redbox, etc.
FTS SCORE: 87%