Whiplash is a movie about Andrew Neyman (Miles Teller)
who wants to be one of the great drummers and leave his mark on the world. The movie
traces his journey at the cut-throat Shaffer conservatory. One of the main
characters of the movie is Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons) who is a music
teacher. He leads a studio band of his handpicked musicians to the most
competitive jazz competitions and Andrew is one of these handpicked musicians.
At the beginning it is as if Fletcher sees a star student in Andrew and towards
the end of the movie even says that he brought in another drummer only as
motivation for Andrew. But Fletcher is not a hearts and compliments kind of
guy. He pushes and pushes his students till they either break or become perfect.
According to him there are no words in the English dictionary more harmful than
‘good job’. He pushed and pushed Andrew further and the question is will he be
perfect or will he break?
Miler teller and J.K. Simmons, both, give exceptional performances
In Whiplash. J.K. Simmons portrays the fearful Terrance Fletcher to perfection.
His gestures and words are both menacing and leave us feeling exactly the way
Andrew might be feeling at that moment. Miler Teller embodies the scared,
confused, unsure yet talented Andrew Neyman beautifully. We can feel his fear,
pain and hard work through his expressions and body language. Great acting
combined with Damien Chazelle’s acting and Tom Cross’s crisp editing make this
movie reverberate within all our hearts.
After watching Whiplash, I was momentarily left feeling
lost. The movie is so crisp and exciting that your body starts to vibrate to
the thumps of the drum. But when it ends so abruptly you wonder what was it all
for? One of the reasons this movie is so powerful and leaves such a drastic
impact is because of the fast pace and the abrupt end. It takes you on a musical
roller coaster and then throws you back out with a lot to think. Another reason why it is so powerful is because it addressees something that we all feel at one point or another, the need to push ourselves, the need to be great at what we do, the need to do something worthwhile... It's painful and beautiful at the same time and thus leaves us writhing with emotions.
Was Fletcher a negative influence or positive one? Was
his method of teaching really molding greatness or inflicting emotional torture?
What did his approval at the end of the movie mean to Andrew?
This movie gives us a lot to think about and an
overriding urge to do something worthwhile with our own lives. Thus, it’s safe
to say even though Andrew’s journey ends abruptly for us, the feeling and
emotions stay with us for a long time. Its not just Andrew's life but a universal story of how suffering can give rise to beauty and art.
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