Film review: Whiplash

An interviewer once asked John Lennon if Ringo Starr was the best drummer in the world. “He’s not even the best drummer in the Beatles,” Lennon is said to have replied. Ouch.

Being the best drummer in the world is the ambition at the heart of Whiplash, from director Damien Chazelle. Nineteen-year-old Andrew Neyman (Miles Teller) is a student at the fictional Shaffer Conservatory, a prestigious US jazz school. Andrew and his fellow hopefuls are vying for the favor of conductor Terrence Fletcher (J. K. Simmons), who runs the college’s top jazz band.

Fletcher’s methods are, let us say, unorthodox. Exigent, volatile and harsh to the point of violence, he runs his band practices like a boot camp for musicians, hurling missiles and dishing out personal, racist, sexist and homophobic abuse to his young charges in a bid to push them to higher levels of performance. Hmmm…

As the newbie in the band, Andrew is at the bottom of the jazz food chain, making him the butt of the worst of the mistreatment. Not that he is entirely sympathetic himself: like most would-be geniuses, he can be narcissistic, self-absorbed and callous, as evidenced in his behavior towards his family, a love interest and his band mates. But he’s a pussycat in comparison with Fletcher.

Notching up five Oscar nominations, the movie has garnered effusive and near universal praise, with Simmons’s remarkable performance getting a deserved nod for best supporting actor. It’s certainly a powerful study of brutal teaching methods and dedication to a goal. All the acting is impressive as is the cinematography, with the (literal) blood, sweat and tears Andrew expels in his quest rendered in stark detail.

What is lacking is plausibility. While the conductor’s sergeant-major approach does eventually land him in trouble, the film is set in the modern age – not decades ago when authority figures could act with greater impunity. It’s barely credible, then, that such staff conduct (no pun intended) would go unchecked in a US college for so long, given the level of oversight and focus on student welfare. With so much personal and physical abuse heaped on the musicians, it’s also surprising that no walkouts result.

The film is most enjoyable in its final act, when Andrew and Fletcher come into contact outside the school environment (to say more would be a spoiler, but stand by for some moments to relish).

Chazelle’s film essentially follows the template of a sports movie, with initial hard graft, pain and setbacks leading to either glory or burnout. Its jazz gives it an extra layer of class, and you may leave the cinema with a yearning to learn the movie’s main tunes. Just not from Fletcher.

Debbie Stowe

Director: Damien Chazelle

Starring: Miles Teller, J. K. Simmons

On at: Patria, Grand Cinema & More, Cine Grand Titan, Hollywood Multiplex, Movieplex Cinema Plaza, Cinema City Cotroceni, Cinema City Sun Plaza, The Light Cinema

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