Whiplash, or Why I'm Glad I Can Only Play the Radio

Andrew is a newly-admitted student to the Schaffer Conservatory, a music school that he hopes will make the most of his drumming skills and open the world of jazz for him so that he can become the star he’s dreamed of being. The best, most selective band is run by Terrence Fletcher, played by J. K. Simmons.

Andrew’s dreams look like they are coming true. He is given the opportunity to be an alternate in the band, and when he shows that he is the better drummer, he becomes a core member. At least that’s what he thinks. He works himself to the bone—this movie takes “blood, sweat and tears” to a new musical level.

Fletcher is a cruel and intimidating taskmaster who plays with his students’ minds and hearts. He uses everything he knows about them to hurt them, with the mantra that he is making them work harder and play better. He pits them against each other and cows them into complete submission.

Whiplash is a powerful film with amazing performances and unusual use of both music and visuals. The tension between the characters, between ambition and madness, between pushing students for greatness and abusing them, are palpable and interesting.

There's good reason that J.K. Simmons was nominated for best actor--he shifts from shadow to shadow effortlessly, so intense, so slippery. Even though we’re pretty sure Fletcher is a horrible man, we still question along with Andrew whether there might be something more important going on.

The meanness, the insults, the language, the physical trauma are punishing to watch at times. But still you want to know what is going to come of all this, and you can’t help but be wrapped up in the tension. At first you see Andrew as the innocent, and he seems like a sympathetic character. With time, however, you realize that he is not as dissimilar from Fletcher as it seemed in the beginning.

My husband pointed out that the hole in the plot is that truly great musicians collaborate and have joy in creating the music together. So the top band in the school, that has made such a name for itself, couldn't possibly be great if everyone was utterly miserable. The writer/director apparently based it on his own Princeton High School Studio Band, which must make his alma mater feel so warm and fuzzy about it all. Makes me a little less sad that the string bass and the violin have been left by the wayside by a couple of my offspring.

See it if you really enjoy great acting performances and if it doesn’t bother you that you don’t like any of the characters all that much. There’s nothing uplifting about it. These are people with a singular obsession that is so self-focused, so much about being the “best,” that I find them very hard to relate to. The strength of the film is that I kind of do.

And, J. K. Simmons. Seriously.