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Whiplash (2014) - Review


"I'd rather die drunk, broke at 34 and have people at a dinner table talk about me than live to be rich and sober at 90 and nobody remembered who I was."

It's a simple story about a drummer enrolled in a prestigious music school aiming to become the next big thing and his ordeal when he gets into a class of a hardcore teacher.

Never in a million years would I have thought that a movie like this would make me sweat and raise my heart beat like crazy. I'm not particularly a fan of Jazz or drumming, the subject matter of the movie, and yet this movie somehow managed to do the impossible for me. WOW, just WOW.

Miles Teller, the guy who I have mostly seen in small secondary roles, was amazing as the lead in this movie. What made me even more appreciative of him is the fact that he did almost all of the drumming by himself, no special effects or whatever. And then there is J.K Simmons, who plays the hardcore teacher in the movie. He just blew my mind with his acting. His intensity was mesmerizing, so awesome.

The direction of the movie is spot on. I mean, there aren't any useless or non required stuff, only a small set of characters so we get all the focus on the main story. And best of all, is the intensity, which slowly but surely keeps on increasing as the movie goes forward and then explodes in the finale. I honestly was at the edge of my seat, with my hands sweating like crazy, and my heart beating like I was sprinting, during the finale. And the world wasn't in danger, the human race didn't face extinction, the favourite character wasn't dying or anything etc etc, it was just a drumming (plus ensemble) performance, that's the beauty of this film. Hats of to the team that made this film.

One of the best film of last year, easily. A must MUST watch.

9/10
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