Movie Review : Whiplash

If I tell you that this diabolically entertaining spellbinder is about a student trying to master the arcane art of jazz drumming at an elite music conservatory, you might get all bored and pass on it. That would be really stupid though !! Whiplash is a battle to the death. It’s also a well developed provocation… How much of what makes you human will you sacrifice for a desire to truly excel… ?

Plot

A young and talented drummer (Andrew Neimann played by Miles Teller) attending a prestigious music academy finds himself under the wing of the most respected professor (Terence Fletcher played by J.K. Simmons) at the school; one who does not hold back on abuse towards his students. The two form an odd relationship as the student wants to achieve greatness, and the professor pushes him.

Teachers have extraordinary powers in shaping up the future of their students. They have the ability to lead the lost, help the helpless and, in their greatest moments, inspire the creative, lifting them up and pushing them to strive to be the best they can be, then getting them to go even further than that. That does create a fine line, though, where pushing can easily become shoving, and constructive criticism can become abusive derision. It’s this line that is examined, and crossed, in Whiplash…