Whiplash (2015) - Review

Whiplash (2015) – Review

Director – Damien Chazelle

Stars – J K Simmons, Miles Teller, Mellisa Benoist

Director Damien Chazelle has just hit the ripe old age of 30,  ‘Whiplash’ is his first major directing gig and he has guided it to the silver screen almost entirely by himself. His efforts have earned his film 5 Oscar nominations and J K Simmons win at the Globes for Best Supporting actor. Not bad for a film that was on nobody’s radar until people began seeing the first few screenings. From now on the future looks exceptionally bright for Chazelle, Simmons and Teller, but what about ‘Whiplash’ why all the fuss about someone playing jazz drums for almost 2 hours, sounds boring right? Well as it turns out not so much.

Whiplash has to be one of the best films of this year, and it’s not even the end of January yet. It’s a bold statement I’ll grant you, but something about this magnificent piece of filmmaking draws you in and holds you to your seat for every single second. J K Simmons acts as a prestigious music teacher who everyone fears (for a good reason), yet someone who everyone wants to be taught by. Miles Teller who is already becoming a very well known presence in Hollywood proves that he is a future star with this dedicated performance, as Andrew who is willing to give everything to become a legend. ‘Whiplash’ when described almost sounds dull, I mean really ‘you want to see a film about a guy playing drums whilst Spiderman’s boss shouts a him?’ Well no, not really. But when you begin to see this amazing story played out you realize that this will become a cult classic and re-watched over and over again. J K Simmons brings his A game here and as an audience member you almost begin to fear this psychopath and what he will do to the students at his disposal.

Overall Whiplash has shown that smaller Indie films have so much more heart than certain over produced Hollywood blockbusters. It manages to exhaust you and throw you around until the finale where you are so emotionally involved that every shot, every beat is another moment so masterfully created that you never want it to end, but when it does the pay off is so welcome it means you can breath and take a cold shower after this roller-coaster of a ride. Whiplash isn’t a film that will be forgotten, it’s thrusting fresh young filmmakers into the spotlight and showing that J K Simmons is truly a marvelous actor. If this is the next generation of film, then we have a lot to look forward to.

RATING 5/5

Written by Joshua Tanner