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| Whiplash - Promotional Poster - courtesy Sony Pictures Classics |
Whiplash is a drama film written and directed by Damien
Chazelle. The story follows Andrew Neiman (Miles Teller), a young drummer, jazz
student as he pursues his dreams of achieving greatness with the help of his
abusive teaching instructor Terence Fletcher (J.K Simmons). As the film
progresses we get to see Andrew passion turn into obsession as his teacher
pushes him to the brink of his ability and his sanity.
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| Sony Pictures Classics |
Even though this movie is classed as a drama film it felt
more like a suspense thriller. I was on the edge of my seat during most of the
film which is something I thought I’d never say about a movie that is basically
about learning a musical instrument. J.K. Simmons performance as the teaching
instructor is phenomenal and is very reminiscent of a military drill sergeant. The suspense created at
whenever he is going to lose it at any moment at one of his students or whether
Andrew was going to crack under the pressure was incredible. All the
performances where great, especially the chemistry and tension between J.K.
Simmons and Miles Teller.
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| Sony Pictures Classics |
The great thing about the story was that it avoided
following most of the clichéd movie tropes associated with musical films. The
filming style added to the suspenseful moments and really allowed the audience
to follow the down-ward spiral of the characters, somewhat creating a sense of
realism.
Overall going into this movie I had no expectations whatsoever
and was greatly surprised at how good it was. The only criticism for me was
that there was one moment (no spoilers) in the film that seemed a bit
far-fetched. But as a whole this movie is a brilliantly made masterpiece and
definitely one of the best low-budget, indie films I have seen in a while.
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| 4 Stars |
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