Whiplash (2014) (English Language)

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107min

Cast: Miles Teller, J.K. Simmons, Paul Reiser…and more

A talented and ambitious young jazz drummer struggles to navigate the waters of an ultra-competitive New York music conservatory overseen by a feared and unforgiving instructor.

Young writer/director Damien Chazelle, a former Jazz drummer himself, manages to weave together a music film that plays and feels like an excruciatingly tense and darkly comic war-drama, thanks mostly to the outstanding performances of the two leads, J.K. Simmons as the relentlessly harsh instructor Fletcher and Miles Teller as the young student Andrew.

There’s the music, wonderful if you’re into jazz, there’s the superbly tense relationship between the slightly socially inept student driven by ambition and the dark and unforgiving teacher seeking excellence but perhaps compensating for personal failures.

Then there’s the story which is basic but more than enough to keep your fists clenched and breath held until the epic climax.

As a “music film” it’s perhaps one of the finest ever made, the performance sequences are shot so well that you are often watching a kid intensely play drums for several minutes yet you can’t take your eyes off him for a second, while holding your breath.

There is also an interesting exploration on the theme of motivation towards achieving excellence and whether there is a line that should not be crossed, this is personified by the entire mindset of Fletcher played so brilliantly by J.K. Simmons who overtly critiques modern society’s acceptance of artistic mediocrity.

You certainly don’t need to be a jazz fan to enjoy this movie but if you are it is truly a cinematic wet-dream, if you aren’t however you can expect a wonderfully tense and fulfilling experience that will leave you invigorated through possibly one of the greatest movie endings of all time.

We don’t like to pronounce any one movie as the “Best of the year”, particularly since 2014 was such an exceptional year for film, but it is hard for us to argue with Whiplash being the most outstanding film of 2014 and worthy of every accolade and award it may yet receive.