All right, all right, all right. The Oscars (bless that disastrous event) are over, and we’re right back to regularly scheduled programming. That programming is, of course, me picking a movie I like at random and writing about it, since I haven’t seen any of the newest releases. (I did watch Judas and the Black Messiah- I’d give it an A-; it was pretty good.) I’ll at least give you the grace of picking a movie I watched recently- though not too recently, think at least a month and a half ago- and talk today about Whiplash. Before we get too far, Whiplash is on my top ten list, and I think it’s an irrevocable masterpiece. It definitely tops Damien Chazelle’s later work, La La Land (yes, that one, with the infamous Oscar moment of actually losing to another one of my top ten movies, Moonlight), and was definitely robbed at the Oscars in 2015, losing out to Birdman. But, enough of that- it’s time to talk about Whiplash. 

Whiplash, Damien Chazelle’s second feature film, is arguably the one that broke him into the film industry and made him a household name. But, Whiplash was in the works long before it became the feature film we all know and love today. Originally, it was a 2013 short film (watch here), made and entered into Sundance. After winning the Short Film Jury Prize, it was adapted into a feature film, maintaining its supporting star, J.K. Simmons. The short film is excellent, but in comparison to the intense, nail-biting, exhilarating ride that is the feature film, the short pales in comparison. Luckily, I’m talking about Whiplash, the full feature film today, so I’ll have virtually no complaints.

I could probably fill up single-spaced page upon single-spaced page of praises for Whiplash, and the crux of that praise is easily the performances. Miles Teller’s Andrew, present in every scene, is the central character of the film- he’s an ambitious young man, and a gifted jazz drummer with dreams of rising to the top of his elite music conservatory. Andrew is so wrapped up in his dreams of fame that he declares, “I’d rather die drunk, broke at thirty-four and have people at a dinner party talk about me than live to be rich and sober at ninety and nobody remembered who I was.”. And the thing is, he means it. Andrew’s life is drumming, drumming, drumming, and in the brief time period that he loses it, he sort of loses who he is. He breaks off a short, B-plot relationship for drumming, which is his first true love. Teller plays Andrew in his standard nice, boyish, charismatic sort of way, but he’s intense and focused, too. He drums until his hands crack and bleed, and he keeps drumming. He walks injured and bloody into a performance, and drums until he’s told to stop (and that stop is violent and ruinous). He endures abuse at the hands of Professor Fletcher, and he keeps drumming. Fletcher, played by J.K. Simmons, is intimidating and loathsome, intense and violent. With a hair-trigger temper, prone to violent outbursts (involving throwing band equipment or verbal attacks), Simmons plays Fletcher as a tightly-wound bowstring. He’s intense and scary, belittling Andrew until he’s pliable putty, easy to bend and wind into the perfect drummer. The entire cast is chock-full of stunning performances, from Andrew’s gentle father (played by Paul Reiser), to Andrew’s opponents (played by Nate Lang and Austin Stowell), to the smallest of background characters. Every performance is nuanced, played on the tightrope wire they need to be, and it pays off brilliantly.

But the performances aren’t all I need to talk about. The directing and camerawork are another stroke of brilliance, too. The camera is close and uncomfortable, panning to blood dripping onto a snare drum or the shaky aftermath of a brutal slap. In fact, if you were to watch any scene of Whiplash, I wouldn’t suggest the obvious rushing or dragging scene. Instead, I’d suggest the drum off between Andrew, Connolly, and Tanner. In it, the boys are battling for the first drummer spot, and it is the epitome of a nail-biter. What starts as competitive but sane crescendos into stress and blood and sweat and hurled instruments. It’s passion! It’s Chazelle making me feel more about drumming than I ever have in my entire life! It’s beautiful, in the technical aspects, the writing, the performances, the directing, the score, the everything. It really and truly is the perfect scene, and I implore you to watch it immediately. 

One last thing before I end this: I’d like to talk about the music. Whiplash has a score that’s obviously jazzy and lively, and after having written about Soul, I can confidently say that the jazz in Whiplash and the jazz in Soul are equally as heartfelt and passionate but in entirely different ways. Soul was warm and lively and comforting, but Whiplash is harsh and biting, the snare drums snapping at your ankles before you can pull away. Still, the jazz in Whiplash is incredible. The score is breathtaking, and the titular song will blow you away.

Whiplash is really and truly a stunning movie. It smashes it out of the park in every facet, every time. I was insanely stressed out while watching it, bordering on a stomach ache the whole time, and I loved it. The final twenty minutes alone are fantastic, but so is the whole lead-up to that. It has one of the best endings of all time, the perfect cathartic note after an hour and forty or so minutes of pure breathlessness. I’m going to pull a Fletcher here and demand you see Whiplash if you haven’t, instead of nicely suggest it. Go watch it now! Abandon what you’re doing and watch it! 

And, before I leave you, let me quote Fletcher’s tensest question throughout the movie and ask: Were you rushing, or were you dragging?

Rating: A+. I genuinely have no criticism for this movie. Even Fletcher’s harshest line is said for a reason, for you to understand that he’s a bad guy, that he’s a terrible example of a teacher, that he represents the worst parts of total obsession. Really and truly beautifully done, and well-earned in it’s spot on my top ten list.

Whiplash is available on Amazon Prime, Hulu (with Premium Subscription), or any other VOD service.