Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Whiplash

Directed by Damien Chazelle.

2014. Rated R, 107 minutes.
Cast:
Miles Teller
J.K. Simmons
Paul Reiser
Melissa Benoist
Austin Stowell
Nate Lang
Chris Mulkey

Before I even get started, I'll just put it out there. If constant banging on drums bothers you, stay far away from this movie. A rather large portion of Whiplash is spent listening to people practice playing the drums. I mean, just the drums. No other instruments, just some dude beating the crap out of a set of skins. There's usually another dude yelling at the one playing the drums while he's playing them. Said dude then yells at him some more after he's finished playing. This is Whiplash. I just want you to be prepared for it, in case you haven't seen it. The question: is it any good?

The answer to that question, lies within the two dudes I've been referencing. Our little drummer boy is Andrew Neiman (Teller), a first year student at a famed music conservatory. We learn immediately that he's quite gifted with the sticks. While practicing, duh, he comes to the attention of big, bad conductor Terence Fletcher (Simmons), the yeller. He then invites Neiman to join the school's studio band as an alternate, a very big deal. He accepts, soon ascends to being named the band's core drummer, and has to fight tooth and nail to keep his spot. Fletcher seems bound and determined to give it to someone else. He certainly points out every mistake Neiman makes whether it's minor or major. In either case, he does so at the top of his lungs. The relationship between the two is akin to that of a drill sergeant and a private.

For most of the run time, there is no subplot to speak of. There is only a battle of wills between two men. We watch the constant back-and-forth between them and wonder which one of them will give in. We see Neiman's determination. We see him play past the point of exhaustion to the point where he is quite literally leaving something of himself on the drums. We know he wants badly to be one of the greats. Doing that starts by proving himself, here. We just don't know how much a human soul can take before it breaks. On the other end of things, we wonder how much Fletcher has to see that soul take before he stops trying to break it. While not a lot is actually going on, it is truly compelling to watch what amounts to a pissing contest between the two men. It starts with Miles Teller, whom we completely buy as a young guy trying to take full advantage of the shot he's been given and refusing to give up. He is a performer I haven't had much use for in the few things I've seen him in, but I'll admit he's impressed twice in a relatively short span. I recently watched, and thought he was quite good in, The Spectacular Now. In that case, I thought he was far better than the actual movie. Thankfully, that's not the case this time around.


If our enjoyment of Whiplash starts with Miles Teller, it endures because of J.K. Simmons. What he does as Terence Fletcher is scenery chewing done to perfection. He creates such a raging monster we can't help but hate him. He's like the villainous creature in a Godzilla movie stomping through the city with reckless abandon. Instead of skyscrapers, musicians are crumbling in his wake. Simmons is an actor I've loved in everything I've seen him whether I liked the movie, or not. His performances are perfect just about every time out. He is often the best part of whatever he's in. This includes lesser seen comedies such as Extract and big budget action flicks such as Sam Raimi's Spider-man trilogy where his J. Jonah Jameson is perhaps the most literal translation of a comic book character to the screen in the history of moving pictures. The late great Roger Ebert called Simmons invaluable. He proves to be just that in Whiplash. He commands the screen and dares anyone else to even get in the shot with him. It's a magnificent piece of work.

Eventually, there is another element introduced to the story. It's not so much a subplot as it is something else to fuel the war between Neiman and Fletcher. Because, we get a glimpse at the softer side of both men, for only a moment. During this time, motivations are revealed and we almost come to sympathize with Fletcher, whom we've only seen as a raving lunatic to this point. Soon enough, the two are back to locking horns. Shortly after that, we get to the most dissatisfying part of Whiplash: the end. One of them gives in, or so it's implied. The way it happens is so quick that it's not believable. It feels less like an acceptable conclusion than an abrupt abortion of the mission. It's like director Damien Chazelle realized that this really could go on forever and gave up on it rather than taking time to develop an ending. It feels like one of them merely won a round of sparring with much more to come, but it's played like a knockout blow was delivered. Whiplash is still an excellent movie, so this hardly sinks it. However, the rushed finale does subtract from it.


19 comments:

  1. Awesome review! I'm so glad I watched Whiplash in the end. I remember seeing the trailers and just not getting it at all. The ending in particular was just breath-taking!
    - Allie

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    1. Glad you liked it. It really is an exhilarating film.

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  2. I loved Whiplash so much. The ending was perfect, IMO. One of the best endings I've ever seen, so I didn't get the feeling that it was unbelievable. I missed this in theaters initially and had to wait for it to be re-released after it got a bunch of Oscar noms. Well worth the wait.

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    1. Hit enter too quickly. Great review!

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    2. Thanks. It was a fun ending to watch, but just felt too quick to me. Didn't sit quite right with the way their relationship works.

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  3. I got talked into seeing this one a couple of months ago. My mom and sister seemed to really like it, but I never got quite into the same way though I will admit it is a very well made film on a technical level. The thing is that my sister actually has experience in this kind of environment so she was able to relate to it more while half the time I had no idea what anyone was talking about. My the way I saw it, it's basically a film that's intended for musicians, and for people who have been through professional music schools it's relatable but there isn't much for people who don't know this stuff. I did also find it a bit weird that Fletcher came off more as a drill sergeant than a music teacher, I kept half-expecting to find some behind-the-scenes story that he was originally supposed to be played by R. Lee Ermey but I keep getting told there are actually are music teachers like that.

    And of course this part should hardly come as a surprise, I also had some concerns about the general lack of female characters. My parents kept telling me this was done to make the movie more "realistic" because apparently there aren't that many female jazz musicians, but it hasn't stopped me from wondering if it would have really hurt the film to have even just one or two girls in the band even as extras. For that matter, I fail to see any reason the main character of Andrew himself couldn't have been written as female.

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    1. I'm not a musician and have no experience in that world, but I found it very relatable. It wasn't about the music, but about the test of wills between these two guys. The technical stuff was really just a framing device for all of the raw emotion and contention between them. I do know there aren't many female jazz musicians so that aspect didn't bother me.

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  4. I'd say I appreciated this more then loved, or even liked, it. Teller committed strongly to his role and did well by it but it's J.K. Simmons that the film will be remembered for, even without the Oscar win. I was so glad to see a true supporting player win the award as it use to be in the studio era and onward up until about a decade or so ago. The trend of leads masquerading as supporting to get a prize irks me no end. As you said Simmons is often the best thing in whatever he's in and even if that's not the case he's always a solid piece of it.

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    1. Simmons is definitely the man. I was also really glad to see him get the Oscar win. He makes this movie.

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  5. Great review! I still haven't seen this one but for some reason I'm just not enthused enough to see it. The idea of watching the sound of drums for 2 hours and seeing a boy being mentally abused just doesn't appeal to me. I hope when I do see it I'll like it as most people.

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    1. I understand. My wife liked the movie, but walked out of the room because she was getting a headache. To the movie's credit, she kept coming back between sequences to see what was going on.

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  6. I actually think the finale, in a way, saves the film because it gives it that slight element of detail that takes it, ever so briefly, out of 'one note' territory. I liked this movie. It's hard not to like. It's savagely edited and wholly engrossing, and Teller is brilliant...but the film has no real substance, no real depth. It's just one note played really well from start until finish...but that moment where Teller gives up...and then DOESN'T adds that special something...which is also why I think Teller is miles (lol, pun not intended by I'll take it) better than Simmons, who was good and commanding but read false when notes were added and basically just yelled with a hand on his hip. Teller dug deep and gave us so many layers between words.

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    1. Interesting read on the movie. Teller is great, and my problems with the finale do lie with Simmons' character, but more due to the script than the performance. It just felt like he suddenly gave up just so the film could end, not because Nieman did anything so spectacular that he had to.

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  7. Great Review. I saw this one last year and thought it was among the year's best films. Both Teller and Simmons are amazing but Simmons in particular is absolutely unforgettable. As for the ending, I thought it was perfect. So concise yet so effective.

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    1. Simmons was certainly unforgettable. Guess I'm on an island by myself on that ending.

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    2. Pretty much, yes. But it's an island...so enjoy that shit.

      I loved the movie and adored how brutal it was. It totally felt like I wad watching the first act of Full Metal Jacket...but with f--king jazz school instead of the Vietnam War.

      Simmons may have been one-note. ..but it was an excellent note that got stuck in my head for days.

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    3. Oh yeah, Summons was definitely channelling that drill instructor for this movie.

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  8. Great review, Dell! I enjoyed this one in the moment, but after there were parts of that just didn't ring true. It's saved by Simmons and Teller's incredible performances and the most effective editing of the last ten years. The editing is working overtime in that finale to sell you on what happens, and to the movie's credit, I totally bought it while watching, although afterwards, I had my reservations, thinking it was kind of a cop out.

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    1. Can't disagree with anything you're saying except that as soon as the ending happened I immediately thought it was a cop out.

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