Whiplash

Passion is a double-edged sword. It'll knight your wildest dreams while eviscerating fear and enemies, or even oneself. The questions is: What's at bargain to use the sword? What it takes to be the greatest? Or better, what it actually means to be the greatest? Whiplash, one of the most influential and dangerous films of all time, holds the answers.

Our protagonist Andrew Neiman, played by Miles Teller is a unique chap to follow. His one and only goal is to be the greatest drummer to have ever lived. The passion he has towards his dream is extremely contagious! But, it comes with a huge price of losing loved ones and missing the opportunity to lead a normal youngster's life. A great set of supporting characters like his father and girlfriend Nicole (Melissa Benoist) provide solid contrast to Andrew's approach to life. While his father is mostly content and non-confrontational, Nicole is in the limbo of uncertainty regarding her career. His goal is also attacked from all corners, including family members who don't see much of a future in playing drum. But nothing, absolutely nothing comes close to being detrimental compared to his relationship with the teacher and the idol he wants to impress beyond his life - Mr. Terence Fletcher.

J. K. Simmons is an absolute revelation here as Professor Terence Fletcher! Every single line written for this man is pure gold! The combination in which the insults and cusses are used is innovative, hilarious and intimidating! The chemistry between him and Andrew is unlike anything you've seen onscreen before, and you know from the very first scene, the educator is going to be a major pain in the neck! From the constant tests, teases and feverish practice Fletcher pins on the poor boy, it never fails to be incredibly intense, gripping and nerve-racking from start to finish!

'Rushing or dragging', notebook loss, Fletcher hurling a chair at Andrew, catching an out-off-tune player, switching between three drummers to find the right main and the extreme pressure on Andrew to play faster than he ever could to earn the part are only some of the gems lying on the open field here! The entire sequence of Andrew travelling to the Dunevellan competition as he misplaces his sticks and gets into an accident that disables him from playing the drums is absolutely nerve-racking. It's heartbreaking to see his dream die midway, which gives birth to the epic climax of sabotage and onstage comeback!

Andrew's time with his father in the movie theater and his cute proposal to Nicole are examples of how the performances are top notch yet natural. The same can be said about his heartfelt exchange with Fletcher where we truly understand what he’s trying to do, if we haven't already. Fletcher describing Sean Casey before snapping back into character and Andrew breaking up with his girlfriend before trying to patch his relationship up with her again are samples of hard-hitting scenes.

Damien Chazelle's directorial debut is an absolute splash of unbelievable energy! The camera navigations and snappy film editing add so much of speed just like how Terence Fletcher would have wanted it! The high contrast color scheme and surreal extreme close-ups are wonderful! The alternation between positive and negative nodes of events is perfect! There's so much effortless character building in each shot, each scene! But the most important takeaway of all is, it's truly difficult to find a film this simple. Whiplash is a motion picture that's been distilled to its simplest form in terms of everything with the highest level of sheer staggering quality of scenes, dialogues, characters, plot and story!