When reading this, please kind in mind that this is being written without the benefit of reading glasses. The fun of watching "Whiplash" comes from watching the dynamic performance of J. K. Simmons as Professor Kingsfield from "The Paper Chase" times fourteen. In "The Paper Chase," the film and the tv series, John Houseman's Professor Kingsfield, is a bit of a stone-cold teacher who does not tolerate incorrect answers due to lack of preparation on the part of his students and will scold his students in front of God and Kirk Cameron. In "Whiplash," Terence Fletcher, the bandleader/drumming instructor played by J.K. Simmons is a vulgar, unhappy asshole, but a fun asshole to watch. Fletcher would even tell you that he is a vulgar asshole. Simmons' performance is a lot of fun to watch, even as Fletcher yells obscenities at his students and brings some of them to tears with his insults. I understand that this is not some people's idea of entertainment, but I loved it.
Flether's goal is to make his players at the Shaffer Conservatory the best they can be, not a surprise in a film about drumming and the drive to make oneself as great as possible. Miles Teller is very good as Miles Nayman, the student Fletcher hears drumming in a practice room one morning and invites to try out for the school jazz band.
"Whiplash" is the kind of film that demonstrates how I enjoy individual performances more than the overallness (I know that's not really a word) of any given film. Simmons is so charismatic and funny as he breaks down the young musicians he is trying to improve. Fletcher seeks perfection in them, not only for the students, but also for his reputation as an outstanding jazz conductor.
Another attribute of "Whiplash" are the absolutely energy filled, stirring jazz/drum performances that are featured throughout the film, including a fantastic ten or so minute finale. This film has a perfect ending, not simply as in I liked how the story ends (which I did), but in this case I mean that, technically and aesthetically, I love how the film concludes.
The only issue I have with the film is that I do not think that Fletcher would be able to get away with 95% of what he does and says in the film in our modern world of social media and lawsuits. Eventually a student would have recorded him verbally abusing somebody and posted it on You Tube. This is a certainty. This would seem to be a fairly large problem at the core of the film, the plausibility of any of this even having a chance of occurring, however, that doubtlessly being the case, the performance by Simmons and the powerful drama set forth by the intelligent script by Damien Chazelle, who also directs the film, made me learn to stop worrying and love this movie.
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