Review of Whiplash (2014) by Epoc — 14 Dec 2014

Wow. That was so intense, yet so simplistic. Whiplash follows the story of a drum player played by Miles Teller. He's extremely relatable as he wants this as his career, and is working so hard to get there; a situation we've all been in.

We also see that he is not handling the pressure that well. He's in debt, he's barely paying the rent and is verging insanity. From this we want him to succeed, as we see that he is a good guy, but his incredibly bad luck is just bringing him down; again another situation we've all been in.

The humanisation of this character is so engaging that even if there was no plot or dialogue at all in the movie, it would still keep audiences in their seats. But that's not the case. The plot presented before us may be simple, but it's execution is stellar in every possible respect - from acting to cinematography to music; it simply is a masterpiece.

The story comes into play when our main character is at the end of his rope and is a mer millimetre away from giving up. However, he gains hope again when he has the opportunity to study in a class taught by this legendary music teacher played by J.

J Simons. He gets in, but gets way more than he bargains for. Simons teaching methods are extremely cruel and some what sadistic, using physical, verbal and psychological torture to motivate his students.

In addition to this, Simons's performance is absolutely and utterly impeccable. At every given moment some sort of malice is shown by him, making you actually fear what he might put Teller through next.

It's easily the best performance of the year and Simons definitely needs to win an oscar. The film also makes you continuously have conflicting opinions on this character. For example, Simons will often say utterly evil yet hilarious things, that makes you question your own morality by finding it funny.

But the best thing about this character is how real he really is. We've all had some sort of intelligent, charismatic yet malevolent boss or teacher that we've hated with every morsel of our beings. However, the greatest part of this film is at the end.

After around a month of all of this, Simons deems Teller ready to preform, but also warns him that if he messes this up, he will suffer beyond anything he's ever felt. Mix that with excellent camera work and thematic music, and you have one of the most tension filled scenes in the whole of film history.

It takes you through the scene at such a methodical, slow pace that just builds an extreme level of suspense. Without a doubt Whiplash is one of the best, if not the best film of 2014.