Critical Recommendation: Whiplash

Andrew Nieman isn't your average drummer. Neither is he your average guy. He's a particularly driven and aspirational jazz drummer, and he's become really good at his craft. So good, in fact, that he is recruited to join the representational band for Schaeffer Music Academy, one of the most prestigious music schools in the country. Now, if you're starting to think that "Whiplash" is one of those "a star is born" movies, I can dissuade you of that notion right here and now before the ruthless and abusive band director, Terence Fletcher, does. It only takes one practice session with Fletcher for Andrew to realize that Fletcher can be nothing short of a monster. However, something in him doesn't want to give in, despite the cruelty hurled at him. He wants to be one of the greats, and he'll do anything to achieve that goal, no matter what Fletcher does to him. But maybe...this is exactly what Fletcher would want him to do.

I want to preface a couple of things before I get into the details of this review. First off, "Whiplash" is one of the best movies I've ever seen. It's practically flawless from beginning to end, and so I just had to talk about it. However, it's also an incredibly intense and profane movie, so take this review how you will. The movie may not be quite your tempo. That said, let's jump into this.

I want to start by commending the performances in this movie. They are nothing short of astonishing all across the board. Miles Teller's Andrew brings intensity and naivete to the film, and you will constantly be caught between rooting for him to succeed and realizing that he is being manipulated by Fletcher. Doubt is an incredibly prevalent player in this film, and this movie makes you do plenty of doubting with every move each character makes in the increasingly sadistic game of mental chess. And that said, I have to spend some time talking about this Fletcher. Portrayed by JK Simmons, Terence Fletcher has to be one of the most terrifying, sadistic, scene-stealing characters ever put to screen. He's incredibly unpredictable, but what else is impressive and equally horrifying about him is that he's very measured. While he seems to fly off the handle a lot, he never quite loses control. Oftentimes, when a character loses their temper, they tend to lose a little bit of screen presence, because an out-of-control person is very easily controlled by others. This is never the case with Terence Fletcher. Everything he does is a calculated move to either accrue more power, induce more fear in those opposing him (or following him), or manipulate someone for his own personal gain. He's not just terrifying. He's terrifyingly intelligent as well. And those closest to Andrew, his father, Jim, and his girlfriend, Nicole, seem to increasingly become casualties of Andrew's at-all-costs quest for fame and success, which is directly due to Fletcher's influence. In short, "Whiplash" is a movie about the battle for Andrew's soul, with Fletcher pulling him one way while his father and girlfriend pull him the other. It is probably the most intense example of this particular character dynamic I've ever seen put to screen. I get that it's a movie about jazz. No one is ever in horrible, science-fiction-movie-esque danger. However, the relational stakes are very grounded, very real, and feel very immediate, elevating the stakes of the film higher than any Thanos snap or Death Star ever could. And on top of that, Fletcher's incredibly abusive personality takes this conflict between Andrew and those he loves and only makes it feel all the more immediate.

The plot of this film is very single-minded, which is a good thing. The movie never gets distracted, and every single plot point that comes up in the film is somehow tied back to Fletcher's influence on Andrew or Jim and Nicole's influence on Andrew. In essence, what I'm saying is that the movie doesn't have a single moment in it that feels like it isn't absolutely needed by the movie. Every last bit of fat has been trimmed from "Whiplash," and we are left with an intense, lean, and mean plot that doesn't even crescendo until the very last moment of the movie in a breathtaking sequence that you have to see to believe. Way too often, I see movies get sidetracked on plot tangents that don't matter and only exist because the writer and/or director wanted their movie to be longer. Whiplash doesn't even hit two hours long, but I have to commend the writer and director of this film, Damien Chazelle, for never feeling like he needed this movie to be longer. "Whiplash" gets in, says what it wants and needs to say, and gets out. No extra fluff required.

I almost hesitate to say this because I know there's no such thing as a perfect movie, but "Whiplash" is about as close as I've ever seen a movie get. Usually, in my reviews, I'll try to balance out praise with criticism and vice versa, but I seriously can't even really think of any major flaws in this movie, or even really any flaws at all, except for some iffy color grading in one sequence, which is a marginal issue that is entirely inconsequential to the story this movie is trying to tell. I suppose some of the ways the movie portrays jazz have been called into question, but let's be honest, does that really matter? Like, at all? "Whiplash" is heartbreaking, electrifying, terrifying, and soulful. It's one-of-a-kind and will make you feel like you've run a marathon by the time the movie crescendoes in triumphant fashion, cementing itself among the greatest movies I've ever seen. I do have to reiterate something, though. I'm going to once again slap this movie with one of the harshest content warnings I can, but only because I've praised it so highly. Go into it expecting pervasive language and very intense (if not too gory) scenes of abuse that feel jarringly realistic. However, that said, "Whiplash" is, to me, a movie that you must watch at least once. It's that good.

Whiplash - 10/10

Ecclesiastes 2:17-20