Whiplash is a 2014 production written and directed by Damien Chazelle with Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons in the main roles. The movie is rated highly by both the public and critics, receiving a 88 Metascore and 8,5 stars on IMDb. The movie was nominated for 5 Oscars and won 3 of those, including an Oscar for J.K. Simmons performance as an actor in a supporting role.
A Summary
Whiplash tells the story of Andrew Neimann (Miles Teller), a young drum player at Shaffer Conservatory. He is just an alternate in a school band, but that changes when band conductor Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons) comes to their rehearsal. He lets every band player play for just a few seconds and most of them are completely stomped into the ground. He says nothing about Andrew’s performance, but in the end, he tells him he can join his band.
With this confidence boost, Andrew decides to ask a girl out that he likes, Nicole (Melissa Benoist) from the cinema. Fletcher told Andrew that the rehearsals start at 6:00 AM, but when Andrew arrives late it turns out that the class starts at 9:00 AM. During the class, Fletcher’s personality as a hard and unforgiving teacher is established. However, during a short break, he starts talking with Andrew about his personal life and he suddenly seems a nice guy, only to have this information used against him during Fletcher’s outrage because Andrew isn’t playing the right tempo.
Andrew started as an alternate but became a core member after he lost the former core drummer’s music sheets. His place is however definitely not secure. The band is playing a new song that needs to be played in an extremely high tempo and Andrew fails, thus being replaced by the core drummer of his previous band. Andrew is determined to earn his spot as core drummer back and breaks up with Nicole because he thinks there won’t be enough time to be with her.
Now Andrew takes his ambition to become ‘one of the greats’ way too far. Excessive training with bleeding fingers and even walking away from a car crash, just to play the part in a competition. He, likely concussed, failed and is kicked out of the school. After the emotional pain that Andrew has been through he and his father get Fletcher fired for his methods of teaching.
Lacking a goal in life, Andrew is strolling to town and comes across a club where Fletcher is playing with a small band. They talk and Fletcher askes Andrew to play with his band on the big stage. Andrew agrees but quickly finds out that he has been played. Fletcher starts a song that he doesn’t know and Andrew fails horribly. However, he doesn’t give up and starts drumming, interrupting Fletcher talking. He pushes himself to the limit and gets the band to play with him. At first, Fletcher is angry with him, but when he plays like one of the greats, he enjoys it and directs him, giving him a nod of approval as Andrew finishes.
The Story
The main theme throughout the film is emotion. Andrew is pushed to his emotional and physical limits by Fletcher’s teachings. At home, he is regarded as a failure because he pursues he dreams in music, while his family members are football players and smart kids. His father seems to be the only one who appreciates him, no matter what. He is there when he gets kicked out of school and when he gets humiliated by Fletcher in the final part of the movie.
Andrew is put through hell by constantly being promoted to the core, only to be demoted again at the smallest error. You can see the toll it takes on him with his extensive training that only becomes harder and harder throughout the movie. Fletcher tells him that the greatest players never give up and that is the reason that Andrew won’t give up, he wants to be the greatest. It is an intriguing story that gets you to feel Andrew’s pain and misery, but also the excitement of a great performance.
My only point of criticism on the story is the girlfriend side-story. It is a quite small part of the movie, while I believe that longer dialogue between Nicole and Andrew could’ve been beneficial to telling the story. Mostly because Nicole thinks the other way around about dedication, she doesn’t know what she wants and doesn’t seem to care for it, while Andrew is fixated on his one goal.
The Characters
Andrew Neimann
Andrew is an emotionally extremely complex person without any friends. His only purpose in life is to become one of the greatest drummers of all time and leave a legacy. This his shown during his time after being kicked out of school, he just seems purposeless. His determination is a true inspiration for everyone, but he takes it too far, too often.
Besides, he seems extremely vulnerable to compliments. Every time Fletcher says he did something good, he gains massive confidence boosts, only to be crushed again at the next error. His inability to read other people feelings is also a major flaw in his personality. He lets Nicole down without any consideration and Fletcher can easily manipulate him into doing anything.
All in all, a great multi-layered character perfectly executed by Miles Teller. The emotion he put into his performance is just unlike anything I’ve seen before. Just pointing the camera at his face you know exactly how Andrew is feeling.
Terence Fletcher
He is the bad guy character in this movie. However, his intentions are exactly not that bad. He tries to find the best in everybody, to make sure that no talent will be wasted. According to him, the best musicians never give up and will always train more to become the best. The only problem with his ideals is the way he tries to abide them. He pushes kids above their limits and even gets one of his students to hang himself. I believe this type of personality isn’t even uncommon in the top of any field. These days some young people are pushed beyond their limits, just because they’re expected to.
Fletcher’s role was played excellently by J.K. Simmons, as his Oscar shows. The pure power and anger put into this role made me as a viewer just as afraid of Fletcher as Andrew.
Production
The directing in this movie was also really intriguing. The main focus of this movie probably was the emotions and through the use of composition, this has been empowered. Most of the shots with dialogue were done with the camera close the actors’ faces which emphasizes the emotions shown by Simmons and Teller. These close-ups were alternated with interesting positions for the shots from the complete band playing. Hovering above the members, close-ups of the members, close-ups of the instruments, all were shown during quick cut scenes, extremely well done in my opinion.