I’m not quite sure how to make this review concise because I’ve got ALOT to say about it. Who the hell knew a movie about DRUMMING could be so bloody INTENSE?!
Having watched the trailer I shrugged it off as some indie drama flick; probably a genre I’d like to steer clear of. But thank god, that Thursday night I was dragged by my sister to go to the cinema. We fought over the choice of Birdman or Whiplash, but the latter won. And I’m pretty thrilled I lost.
Whiplash was, as I said before, bloody INTENSE. It was a Rocky boxing match with a set of drums.
Andrew Neiman (Miles Teller) is a first-year jazz student at the prestigious Shaffer Conservatory in New York. He has been playing drums from a young age and aspires to become one of the greats like Buddy Rich. Conductor Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons) accepts Andrew into his studio band as the alternate for Carl (Nate Lang), the core drummer. Fletcher is horridly abusive toward his students, mocking and insulting them. But determined to impress Fletcher, Andrew keeps practicing until his hands bleed and until he can beat Fletcher at his own game.
Simmons recently won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as Fletcher and I could not have been happier. If you’ve seen the film, you can hardly argue against it. Although Teller is brilliant as the starring role, it’s prettier obvious that Simmons’ portrayal of the conductor Terence Fletcher carries the movie through. He had me squirming in my seat as he pushes Neiman extraordinarily hard, becoming the demon of all music teachers. His acting is a reason alone to sit down and watch this, although the music is equally amazing.
Sadly, obviously it wasn’t at the heights of Birdman or The Theory of Everything, but it was pretty damn close.
munchingpopcorn 