Whiplash Movie Review (2014)

drama, movie review, music, whiplash,

{[['']]}

Whiplash stars Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons. Miles Teller plays a drummer, but not just any drummer, he wants to be the next great one. J.K. Simmons plays a well respected music talent/teacher/coach/scout/really mean guy. He saw Miles playing one day and decide to ask him to come to his class, and then he just start grueling Miles Teller’s character. I’m talking devouring him in every sense of the word until he can't take it anymore, and the psychological battle of wits begin.
I remember the first I really took note on Miles Teller, that was the American remake of Footloose (2011) and it wasn't a good note that I took. He’s just seem like the guy who’s the next teen that wasn't going anywhere and going to be in this long string of movie like where he play in 21 & Over (2013).
With this movie, he’s really show me that he has a lot of talents, especially on the drums. He’s been drumming apparently since he was age 15 so he’s really was perfect for this role. However, J.K. Simmons in this movie is an absolute revelation. Imagine of J. Jonah Jameson shaved off his head, became a music instructor, and got really vulgar. That’s his character in this movie, he’s brilliant. He gave one of the best performance I’ve seen so far this year, he’s totally Oscar worthy.

Another drama movie you might also like : Birdman (2014), The Judge (2014), Gone Girl (2014)

Do you know all those YouTube’s montage videos of the best movie insult? You could take his character and fill the run-time of all of those videos with the things he comes up with. But what so beautiful about this movie is the drive that tells the characters feel, that desire to want to be good, the passion that he feels for a subject that he’s so incredibly excited about but he has a hard time communicating that with his family, his father, because it’s a really hard thing to express. I personally know all about that and I completely connect with that aspect of the character because I had the same type of childhood.
I had a really hard time convincing others of my love of movies and trying to get them understand and appreciate what I saw in them. That’s a really difficult thing to do when you younger, to express your love of an art form, because everyone around you just want you to work on a factory, or become a football player, or get a job in an office or something traditional. It takes that rare parents to understand the love of art, and that’s portrayed beautifully in this film, but the highlight by far is the budding of heads between Teller and Simmons.
This is an all accounts of psychological film. It’s not just a music film, it’s not entertaining and funny, this is a very serious psychological battle between two people who feel so strongly about their positions and their opinions and to see them clash is some of the most intense acting that I’ve seen in a movie this year. I’m not going to give anything but this film I think contains my favorite ending of the entire year. It has the most emotionally powerful last ten minutes I’ve seen so far in 2014.
Whiplash is an incredible film. If you’re fan of music, if you’re fan of art and you have a hard time expressing your love of art, if you’re fan of great acting, definitely check this movie out. Whiplash is one of the best film of the year.

Director: Damien Chazelle
Writer: Damien Chazelle (screenplay)
Stars: Miles Teller, J.K. Simmons, Melissa Benoist 
Duration: 107 min