X
- 2014
- R
- Sony Pictures Classics
- 1 h 46 m
- 2014
- R
- Sony Pictures Classics
- 1 h 46 m
Summary Andrew Neyman (Miles Teller), a young jazz drummer who attends one of the best music schools in the country under the tutelage of the school’s fearsome maestro of jazz named Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons), struggles to make it as a top jazz drummer.
Directed By: Damien Chazelle
Written By: Damien Chazelle
- 2014
- R
- Sony Pictures Classics
- 1 h 46 m
- 2014
- R
- Sony Pictures Classics
- 1 h 46 m
Whiplash
8.8
Where to Watch
Summary Andrew Neyman (Miles Teller), a young jazz drummer who attends one of the best music schools in the country under the tutelage of the school’s fearsome maestro of jazz named Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons), struggles to make it as a top jazz drummer.
Directed By: Damien Chazelle
Written By: Damien Chazelle
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 49 Critic Reviews
89
98% Positive
48 Reviews
48 Reviews
2% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 49 Critic Reviews
89
98% Positive
48 Reviews
48 Reviews
2% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Marches to the beat of its own drum… Lands with a bang… There just aren’t enough musical clichés to describe Whiplash. A masterclass in technique, power and rhythm, it stings and sings like nothing else.
Whiplash is cinematic adrenalin. In an era when so many films feel more refined by focus groups or marketing managers, it is a deeply personal and vibrantly alive drama.
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 1,738 User Ratings
8.8
92% Positive
1599 Ratings
1599 Ratings
4% Mixed
78 Ratings
78 Ratings
4% Negative
61 Ratings
61 Ratings
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 1,738 User Ratings
8.8
92% Positive
1599 Ratings
1599 Ratings
4% Mixed
78 Ratings
78 Ratings
4% Negative
61 Ratings
61 Ratings
Although a couple of narrative twists late on threaten to drum us into melodrama, Chazelle never misses a beat and the film builds to a cathartic crescendo.
As a go-for-it music movie, Whiplash is just about peerless. The fear is contagious, but so is the jazz vibe: When Andrew snatches up his sticks and the band launches into a standard—say, Hank Levy’s “Whiplash”—it’s hard not to smile, judder, and sway.
The thrill of watching Fletcher and Neyman's fray unfold is intensified by Damien Chazelle's attention to the craft and challenge of musicianship.
The antithesis of “let’s-put-on-a-show” fluff, Whiplash...is about the wages of all-out sacrifice and commitment.
I don’t get the enthusiasm for this movie, written and directed by Damien Chazelle, which is such a cooked-up piece of claptrap that I half expected Darth Vader to pick up the baton. We’re supposed to think that Terence’s tough love is more “honest” than the usual pussyfooting tutelage, but in any sane society this guy would have been brought up on charges long ago.
Pretty decent, though the character became mostly insufferable by the end. A little bit of a taxing watch, though if it strikes your tone, it is definitely worth a viewing.
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Whiplash is JK Simmons shining around and getting everyone at his feet. His acting as the music teacher that pushes students to the edge is absolutely breathtaking, nothing like what I have seen in a long time. This character represents all the obstacles that life puts in front a person that wants to succeed on a certain topic. The work with the cameras really helped to create this figure, staying with details and looking up, at him, or down, at the rest. The problems with this film starts when you look around at the other things on screen; the plot is almost nonexistent, leading to a chaos of nonsense; the protagonist is not well defined, making impossible for the viewer to understand his actions and decisions; and the camera's work that was magnificent at the beginning is lost along the way. So many incoherent things together definitely can't maintain a person's attention, although if you like to hear an hour forty five of drums, this movie is for you.
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The movie glosses over reality on so many occasions that it's hard to take it seriously. Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons give great performances but they're both oversimplified characters. Simmons just plays a comic book villain. How no one filed a complaint against him in his time at chauffeur is beyond me. Moreover how did he get a job as the conductor of a pro band despite the fact that he's been accused of emotionally torturing a boy to the point where he committed suicide? Shouldn't Fletcher be in jail? How is he walking free. Moreover some of his actions don't even make sense. He expels a student from the band who is in tune because he didn't know whether he was off tune but doesn't even take action against the one who's out of tune, even though he's completely oblivious to that fact as well? I'm sorry is it just me or is that a contradiction. Car accidents don't seem to bother our protagonist too much. That's the least of his problems. He just couldn't afford any scars at that time so he didn't get any. "There's no to words more harmful than Good Job"? Really? That's not dark, that's not bleak, that's just stupid and simplistic. Whiplash is a film about the pain that accompanies passion, and the blood that's shed on the road to perfection. But sadly, it doesn't execute well. The movie has some tense scenes but the overall result is contrived and unsatisfying. It has a few twists but ultimately it's the same conventional story about the tough love shared by the arrogant apprentice and the abusive master.
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An extravagant mentor with a lot of style who pushes the young pupils to the edge and pupils playing the mentor's game... I've seen that in House, Devil Wears Prada, even in Hell's Kitchen... and now in Whiplash. This movie is nothing but an old plot with a new costume, one that adds a hip/cult aspect to it and will extract good comments from posers who want to look hip and cult. Very superficial though and get bored when you watch a movie that does exactly what thousands of movies have done before, don't bother watching. One point to Simmons and one point to the music though.
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Production Company
Bold Films,
Blumhouse Productions,
Right of Way Films,
Sierra / Affinity
Release Date Oct 10, 2014
Duration 1 h 46 m
Rating R
Tagline The road to greatness can take you to the edge
Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 3 Wins & 5 Nominations
Golden Globes, USA
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Gold Derby Awards
• 4 Wins & 9 Nominations
