☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ½
Whiplash
(2014) – D. Chazelle
I can’t decide which way to start this
review: “Intensity thy name is Whiplash”
or “I only thought of Fame once or twice.”
But seriously, this story of a first year jazz drumming student coping
with a teacher who evokes the drill sergeant from Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket
never lets up. For anyone who ever had
the motivation to achieve something and who felt the pressure to live up to
expectations so impossibly high (and therefore probably impossibly stupid),
this film’s for you. J. K. Simmons is
smooth, dedicated, and downright nefarious as the teacher and Miles Teller
holds his own (and really holds the sticks) as the student. However, it’s the pacing of the film and the
eclectic cutting that really scores – sure there are a lot of drum solos but
they are pretty mesmerizing – and then there’s that sucker punch. Nothing too deep here, unless you want to
ponder about whether motivation is made stronger by obstacles or simply wiped
out (could go either way, I think). In
any event, this is one film that you shouldn’t miss.
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