Whiplash - Review

Whiplash                                            

Review by Jack Howard

Whiplash is a 2014 American drama film written and directed by Damien Chazelle based on his experiences in the Princeton High School Studio Band. Starring Miles Teller and J. K. Simmons, the film depicts the relationship between an ambitious jazz student (Teller) and an abusive instructor (Simmons). Paul Reiser and Melissa Benoist co-star as the student's father and love interest respectively. The film opened in limited release domestically in the US and Canada on October 10, 2014, gradually expanding to over 500 screens and finally closing after 24 weeks on March 26, 2015. Over this time the film grossed $33.1 million against a production budget of $3.3 million.

In Whiplash we see Andrew Neiman, an aspiring young drummer with dreams to be a great within the music industry and his experiences at a prestigious music school with a brazen and cruel teacher and conductor. We see Andrew tortured psychologically, verbally and actually physically bullied by his conductor Terence Fletcher (J.K Simmons). As well as the great tension between characters along with the well thought out storyline, the musicians featured are amazing, all virtuosic jazz musicians.

Whiplash has been called the ‘rocky’ of music based films and was nominated or the best picture award. It began as a 17 Minute short film by Chazelle and was previewed at the Sundance film festival where Sony snapped up the film, it is a hugely accredited film and loved by many: J.K Simmons won exactly 47 awards for his role as Terence Fletcher. There are a number of interesting facts about the film. One of the most interesting is that the vast majority of the intense, quick and virtuosic drumming is actually played by Miles Teller and not only did he actually experience the drumming, he experienced the pain brought on by Fletcher along with Fletcher’s actor J.K Simmons actually breaking two ribs when Teller (Neiman) tackled him to the ground in anger. The most interesting fact for me personally was that the film was shot over 19 days, I find this amazing as not only would this fairly independent film have to struggle with cinematography and any issues that arose during production, the music played by big bands of musicians had to be perfect every time, not only did the acting have to be efficient but the musicians and their form had to be perfect too.

I am very fond of this film and have watched it a number of times since its release, not only am I incredibly enthused and impressed by the musicians but I find the relationship between Andrew Neiman and Terence Fletcher very interesting and their encounters exciting. 

Neiman’s love interest and relationship within the film is also very interesting and compliments the storyline very well and highlights important parts of the film. There is never a dull moment in the film and although it may not be everyone’s taste in film, it is certainly a good film that would be enjoyed by many. My favourite scene is the final scene where after being exiled from the music conservatory and having Fletcher fired from his position we see Fletcher conducting for a band including Neiman at a big jazz festival. Fletcher steals his drum charts and Neiman is left to improvise his playing. In this scene we see Neiman outlandishly playing solo parts and leading the band in an epic finale to the film where his playing skills are breath-taking. We also see the onstage reactions from fellow musicians as well as the conflict between Fletcher and Neiman whilst on stage.

I enjoy Whiplash, I believe it is a great film and a film that I would not usually be too interested in as although I enjoy music profusely and have watched countless music based films and documentaries, I do not usually watch dramas. I would recommend watching Whiplash to anyone, you do not have to be a musician to appreciate the film as it holds a very strong, accessible and interesting storyline.