All These Creations: “Whiplash” Movie Review

Year: 2014

Director: Damien Chazelle

Writer: Damien Chazelle

Stars: Miles Teller, J. K. Simmons, Paul Reiser, Melissa Benoist, Austin Stowell, Nate Lang

“Whiplash” follows the story of the young and promising jazz drummer Andrew (Miles Teller), who attends a prestigious music school and manages to get into the class of the most feared and respected professor - Fletcher (portrayed by J. K. Simmons), who easily becomes abusive when it comes to getting the best performances out of his students. Although Andrew is constantly tormented by Fletcher, they at least share the love for the music and throughout the film the two develop a kind of love-hate relationship that revolves around the pursuit of greatness and perfection.

“Whiplash” is pretty much straightforward and to the point, but here that approach is effective and electrifying. It might be hard to believe, but “Whiplash” is the first feature film by Damien Chazelle and it’s based on his own experience as a competitive drummer in high school. The movie was first realized as a successful short film that attracted investors for the production of the feature version.

As a result, we can observe the collision between two fascinating characters reaching for the limits of human abilities and willing to go as far as possible. It’s a dialogue about talent, determination, ambition and where do you draw the line between hard work and insanity, between true talent and mediocrity. “Whipwash” also greatly incorporates comedy and it has more tension and excitement than most thrillers and action movies, because of its immediacy and raw emotion. It achieves that with concise script, great editing and cinematography (including a lot of close-ups, especially of J.K. Simmons’ face) and two breathtaking performances. And while everybody is losing their minds over J.K. Simmons, can we talk about Miles Teller? He is just as amazing in his portrait of ambition, perseverance, struggle, at times desperation, even arrogance and physical pain. Still, J.K. Simmons is instantly magnetic, although at first it looks like he’s just building on R. Lee Ermey’s performance as Sgt. Hartman in “Full Metal Jacket”.

This film literally shows the blood and the sweat one must offer in order to achieve greatness. And if you think about the plot, there’s a slightly unrealistic succession of events, especially towards the end of the movie, used to heighten the tension and drama. And although you know why it’s there by the end you are so entranced and drawn into this hectic, thrilling world that you go with it. I guess, because of that, although essentially realistic, the movie is also stylized, beautifully enhanced to immerse you in its world and the turmoil of the characters.

What I also like about “Whiplash” is that it doesn’t shy away from the arrogance of Andrew, often something very common among the great or just ambitious artists. So, there’s a tiny bit of “Amadeus” feel to it. Of course, there’s the “Black Swan” comparison and although definitely less fantastical and more straightforward, “Whiplash” describes just as well the struggles and obsessions of a young performer that happens to be in one of the most cutthroat arts.

Also, there’s a hell lot of actual drumming (a big part of it performed by Teller himself) and I love it. I think that many directors would shy away from that, but Chazelle definitely made the best decision, because every second is absolutely enthralling and brings the audience closer to the drama and the characters. The ending of the movie is stunning and (for me) makes “Whipwash” one of the very best films this year.