Review of Whiplash (2014) by Shayan S — 02 Jul 2016

You know, one question I ask myself on whenever I miss out on a film that's not only has been out for 2 years and is taken me now to watch, also considered the best film of that year, is: Why? Why the hell did I not watch this sooner.

And it's a rare example for me to say this. And it can be even more rare of me to basically go into a film that despite what fantastic rating it gets, I can get so emotionally invested into it that I forget I was watching a movie to begin with and more as a experience.

And that brings me to this little gem: Whiplash. The best film of 2014, nominated and put veteran actor JK Simmons and small time actor Miles Teller into Oscar winners, and put director Damien Chazelle on the mainstream Hollywood spotlight (doing the screenwriting for another tense thriller from this year of 2016: 10 Cloverfield Lane.

) And like....holy crap. This is just pure fantastic. Everything was amazing about it. Sure it had some issues, which every film has no matter how great the quality, but they were so far none that it only boiled down to these two: One slightly cliched scene at a dinner table & some music notes used with the background soundtrack.

Now the rest of the film? Jee I mean I could go on with that forever. A fantastic cast, LEGENDARY performances from Miles Teller and ESPECIALLY JK Simmons, great pacing, a well layered and simple to follow story that likes to poke fun at cliches here and there, well constructed shots and well made cinematography, a kick ass and SUPERB finale that is just so awe inspiring and so palm sweating that you need to see it to believe it, pretty damn impressive drums from actor Miles Teller that he made me move my head to his beats, and a soundtrack that jesus christ were can I find and listen to all day because that right there is how you do a soundtrack.

Overall, do yourself a favor if you haven't seen this to go and do so. Please. I DEFINITELY made the mistake of waiting, and I sure as hell am glad I saw this. Unforgettable in every sense and I can now see why it was the best film of 2014 along with Nightcrawler and Birdman.