As a drummer first and foremost in my life, you can probably imagine how excited I was to hear about a critically acclaimed movie surrounding a jazz drummer attempting to impress a damn near psychotic tutor at a prestigious music school. The knowledge that JK Simmons gives what many call his greatest performance in his career also acts as a great incentive to view this film. So, as both a movie and a study of the struggling music student, does Damien Chazelle's Whiplash en'snare' you the way it should (pun intended)?
The film follows Andrew Neiman (played by Miles Teller) as he starts his life of music study in the Shaffer Conservatory. He impresses jazz maestro/conductor Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons) in an audition and is immediately invited to join his ensemble. However Fletcher is revealed to be a shockingly masterful manipulator of emotions and begins to berate and humiliate Neiman in front of the class because of a slight timing issue in one of the pieces. The tension amps up between the two and Neiman becomes obsessed with meeting Fletcher's near impossibly high standards, sometimes to disastrous consequences outside of his musical life…
Firstly, the foremost positives about this film are the fantastic acting performances; Teller and Simmons are both stunning in their roles, with Teller oozing an arrogance and self confidence through Neiman's unstable attitude and Simmons absolutely owning the role of Fletcher, yelling insults and barbs that you would have to think are partially improvised. They both have Oscar potential in their roles, but make no mistake about it, this is Simmons' film. He gives an absolutely outstanding performance, owning the screen with an eery focus and an apparent lust for every line he spits and spews towards the students. The supporting cast are practically unneeded for the film; they are all brilliant in their performances but they only seem to make any real screen time when playing music, otherwise this is very much Neiman vs Fletcher: The Movie.
The direction outside of the musical performances is pretty average; the scenes between characters away from the music are shot with pretty clear, familiar angles and shots, with the occasional blurry shot or artsy zoom. However, when the lights are on bright and the musicians hit the stage, Chazelle's direction takes a huge leap forward with really solid and original ways to view a swinging 'Big Band'. Especially as the tension builds up between Neiman and Fletcher, the performances/rehearsals are captured in ways much more befitting that of a war film or a psychological thriller. Each performance becomes a film within itself and Chazelle delivers in spades on every one. Outside the music however, there isn't a huge amount to talk about visually.
One of the main criticisms I have for this movie is the approach to musician attitudes. There is no middle ground in this film between that of a non-musician and a musician. This film seems to state that if you aren't a musician, you couldn't possibly understand the struggle of one and if you are a musician, you absolutely HAVE to be the best! This comes off as a little pretentious, and this is coming from a drummer who views himself as predominantly a Jazz drummer. Neiman is an intense character, but it goes to an unrealistic level at points. With a breakup scene coming across as almost inhumanely cruel, Neiman makes assumptions about the girlfriend, basically stating that no matter what happens, he's the bigger man for stopping the relationship before she dumps him for being too dedicated. While some people are cruel, this comes across as downright horrible. They also make a light suggestion that Neiman may be autistic with an 'inability to look people in the eye'. This does also come across in the breakup scene as a statement, saying 'he's only this cruel because he's a little weird'. It's creates this strange inconsistency between what real life musicians are like and the characters in the film. In the end Neiman's lasting message to me was 'the only way you'll succeed in music is if you dump your girlfriend, treat everyone else like crap and practice all the time instead of having friends'. No amount of practice will bring you more success than if you are approachable, and that is something that Neiman is certainly not. Make no mistake about it, I like unhinged and dislikable lead characters (Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler was one of my favourite performances last year), but Neiman's character, while motivated and clearly passionate about music, does come across as a little too much for one character.
The music itself is fantastic, with brilliant renditions of classic jazz standards. However it did have one primary flaw, and this is something I can happily admit to being simply a pretentious musician's issue with the film. The drums and other instruments on-screen are frequently out of sync with the audio track of the music. This did take me out of the performances somewhat, with drums or cymbals crashing when they were never hit on camera and instruments playing at different speeds to the audio. Most of the time it was minimal, but on a couple of occasions it became really off-putting. Obviously this is coming from a drummer who is familiar with the instruments, but I can put this as a minor flaw in the grand scheme of the film, which overall is still a pretty damn good thrill ride!
Overall Whiplash is a very intense and enjoyable film, with a great plot leading to an outstanding finale that truly encapsulates the journey that Fletcher and Neiman have been building towards. With a career high for J.K. Simmons and a great performance from Teller, it is a very high standard for 2015 to match. However some large flaws with Neiman character traits and a general 'black-or-white' approach to musicians does hinder the film greatly. Music students will likely find some irritation with the audio syncing issues and I doubt anyone looking to study music in future will ever want to bother after seeing what this film show music schools to be like. Overall a flawed but very good effort from Chazelle. I will look forward to seeing what he does next.
The film follows Andrew Neiman (played by Miles Teller) as he starts his life of music study in the Shaffer Conservatory. He impresses jazz maestro/conductor Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons) in an audition and is immediately invited to join his ensemble. However Fletcher is revealed to be a shockingly masterful manipulator of emotions and begins to berate and humiliate Neiman in front of the class because of a slight timing issue in one of the pieces. The tension amps up between the two and Neiman becomes obsessed with meeting Fletcher's near impossibly high standards, sometimes to disastrous consequences outside of his musical life…
Firstly, the foremost positives about this film are the fantastic acting performances; Teller and Simmons are both stunning in their roles, with Teller oozing an arrogance and self confidence through Neiman's unstable attitude and Simmons absolutely owning the role of Fletcher, yelling insults and barbs that you would have to think are partially improvised. They both have Oscar potential in their roles, but make no mistake about it, this is Simmons' film. He gives an absolutely outstanding performance, owning the screen with an eery focus and an apparent lust for every line he spits and spews towards the students. The supporting cast are practically unneeded for the film; they are all brilliant in their performances but they only seem to make any real screen time when playing music, otherwise this is very much Neiman vs Fletcher: The Movie.
The direction outside of the musical performances is pretty average; the scenes between characters away from the music are shot with pretty clear, familiar angles and shots, with the occasional blurry shot or artsy zoom. However, when the lights are on bright and the musicians hit the stage, Chazelle's direction takes a huge leap forward with really solid and original ways to view a swinging 'Big Band'. Especially as the tension builds up between Neiman and Fletcher, the performances/rehearsals are captured in ways much more befitting that of a war film or a psychological thriller. Each performance becomes a film within itself and Chazelle delivers in spades on every one. Outside the music however, there isn't a huge amount to talk about visually.
One of the main criticisms I have for this movie is the approach to musician attitudes. There is no middle ground in this film between that of a non-musician and a musician. This film seems to state that if you aren't a musician, you couldn't possibly understand the struggle of one and if you are a musician, you absolutely HAVE to be the best! This comes off as a little pretentious, and this is coming from a drummer who views himself as predominantly a Jazz drummer. Neiman is an intense character, but it goes to an unrealistic level at points. With a breakup scene coming across as almost inhumanely cruel, Neiman makes assumptions about the girlfriend, basically stating that no matter what happens, he's the bigger man for stopping the relationship before she dumps him for being too dedicated. While some people are cruel, this comes across as downright horrible. They also make a light suggestion that Neiman may be autistic with an 'inability to look people in the eye'. This does also come across in the breakup scene as a statement, saying 'he's only this cruel because he's a little weird'. It's creates this strange inconsistency between what real life musicians are like and the characters in the film. In the end Neiman's lasting message to me was 'the only way you'll succeed in music is if you dump your girlfriend, treat everyone else like crap and practice all the time instead of having friends'. No amount of practice will bring you more success than if you are approachable, and that is something that Neiman is certainly not. Make no mistake about it, I like unhinged and dislikable lead characters (Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler was one of my favourite performances last year), but Neiman's character, while motivated and clearly passionate about music, does come across as a little too much for one character.
The music itself is fantastic, with brilliant renditions of classic jazz standards. However it did have one primary flaw, and this is something I can happily admit to being simply a pretentious musician's issue with the film. The drums and other instruments on-screen are frequently out of sync with the audio track of the music. This did take me out of the performances somewhat, with drums or cymbals crashing when they were never hit on camera and instruments playing at different speeds to the audio. Most of the time it was minimal, but on a couple of occasions it became really off-putting. Obviously this is coming from a drummer who is familiar with the instruments, but I can put this as a minor flaw in the grand scheme of the film, which overall is still a pretty damn good thrill ride!
Overall Whiplash is a very intense and enjoyable film, with a great plot leading to an outstanding finale that truly encapsulates the journey that Fletcher and Neiman have been building towards. With a career high for J.K. Simmons and a great performance from Teller, it is a very high standard for 2015 to match. However some large flaws with Neiman character traits and a general 'black-or-white' approach to musicians does hinder the film greatly. Music students will likely find some irritation with the audio syncing issues and I doubt anyone looking to study music in future will ever want to bother after seeing what this film show music schools to be like. Overall a flawed but very good effort from Chazelle. I will look forward to seeing what he does next.