Whiplash is the Step Up of drum movies. Well, really it’s the Center Stage but Step Up stole their thunder so here we are. It’s this generation’s Fame. Really, I have never been this wowed by an opening night film at any festival. God, if the rest of Sundance is this strong, or even the rest of the year!
Andrew Neyman (Miles Teller) is picked out of a drum rehearsal room at his music conservatory by the intense conductor Terrence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons) for the school’s competitive jazz band. “Whiplash” is the signature piece they practice. The story of a novice getting thrown in the deep end, rising, surviving and/or cracking under pressure et al has rarely, if ever, been this intense. It’s a formula only in that it is the timeless story of all talent.
Teller returns to Sundance after last year’s The Spectacular Now with another deep, layered performance well beyond the teen roles he diligently plays in studio movies. Whiplash lives and dies on Simmons though. He’s abusive, he’s racist, he’s homophobic, he’s abrasive, but he’s very often right. Fletcher takes the Officer and a Gentleman approach to motivating his musicians, or maybe it’s Full Metal Jacket. It’s amazingly un-PC but just like Fletcher, this movie is not going to coddle us with a hardass who’s really just a nice guy deep down.
Original Review: William Bibbiani calls Whiplash “an inverse, perverse, modern Amadeus.“
He can be rewarding, just never coddling. Each little psych out trick Fletcher uses keeps Neyman, and the audience, off guard. It’s not fickle, just fluid. The accomplishment you achieved today may only last until tomorrow, or for an hour. Then it’s time to achieve something else, lest someone else achieve it first. I do love characters in fiction whose wisdom justifies their abrasiveness. In real life few people are smart enough to get away with that personality, but fiction can explore the challenging ideal of a Dr. House or Maestro Fletcher.
The crux of Whiplash is this question: Do arts warrant an abusive approach to education as life or death services like the military do? Fletcher’s point of view is sound. He wants to create the next Charlie Parker, and if anyone can’t handle it, they’re not the next Charlie Parker. Here’s the thing: Artists want this. Real artists do. If you just want to be told you’re great and be rewarded, I dare say you are not a true artist. The movie presents an extreme, but extremely appropriate to the competitive art it portrays. I should note that I have a wonderful relationship with my editors, I get the positive feedback I need, but they’re able to challenge me in the appropriate ways.
That A Star is Born formula plays out in some expected ways, but to an intense level from which most crowd-pleasers shy away. It gets ugly and violent. I don’t want to spoil how much Neyman goes through. I saw some of it coming, but was still surprised by the extent to which it plays out. Other hurdles I thought he’d face didn’t present themselves, so this is just based on all the genre movies I’ve seen, and Whiplash was able to wow me. The biggest point is that Neyman goes through all this without comment or moping. He takes his licks and comes back for more. It thankfully doesn’t dwell on the romantic subplot, which is poignant but doesn’t need any more than is presented to show Neyman’s descent and growth. Among the questions Whiplash asks is: Is he right for sometimes being a dick? In the end, the answer isn’t yes or no. It just is.
The different personalities of the band players are interesting, though it’s really a tete a tete between Neyman and Fletcher. I wouldn’t even call the other bandmates egos, because they’re not that strong. They are functions of Neyman, as they should be to offer counterpoints to his character journey. I do sort of want to see a sequel about each supporting character to find out how Fletcher whipped them into shape.
Writer/director Damien Chazelle is a major discovery at Sundance, not only for writing this poignant and brutal script but for presenting it in such an intense way. He shoots the rehearsals and concerts with both elegant camera moves and harsh editing. There is drum suspense in this movie.
Somebody please distribute this movie and put out a soundtrack. I can’t believe I’m going to have to wait, like, a year to download this on iTunes. I also love the face Teller makes when he plays the drums. Somebody GIF that.
Fred Topel is a staff writer at CraveOnline and the man behind Best Episode Ever and The Shelf Space Awards. Follow him on Twitter at @FredTopel.
