Whiplash (2014) –
Look, do you need me to be one more voice in the litany of praise for JK
Simmons’s tour de force role as a jazz band instructor who pushes his students
to the brink of madness? If so, consider yourself adequately informed; Whiplash features a can’t-miss
performance from the man you may only know as the newspaper editor from Spider-Man. Equal parts mesmerizing and
terrifying, Simmons’s Terence Fletcher is the stuff nightmares are made of;
think the Sgt. Hartman of jazz. In fact, at a brisk 100-some minutes, Whiplash might be the most intense film
about jazz ever made, leaving me physically shaken in a way that I honestly
can’t recall another film doing. I kid you not; I had lingering jitters for at
least fifteen minutes after putting the DVD back in its case. I single out in
particular an extended drum solo, which sounds far less compelling on paper
than in its execution, to which I credit the frenetic editing and Damien
Chazelle’s tight directorial work. The unsung hero of the film is Miles Teller,
who plays the drumming prodigy protagonist, who appears noir-style in every
scene of the film and who does such a credible job of bringing Andrew Neimann
to life that you’ll forget all about Fant4stic
(as should we all). And without spoiling too much, I’ll say that Whiplash ends in a place of
open-endedness, not on a question of fact but one of meaning, one that is
guaranteed to provoke discussion and stick with you for at least a solid
weekend. Chazelle has created a think-piece disguised as a jazz film with all
the ambience of a David Fincher thriller, and if nothing else you’ll appreciate
JK Simmons in a whole new light.That does it for this week’s edition of “Monday at the Movies.” We’ll see you here next week!
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