‘Whiplash’ marches to the beat of its own drum

“Whiplash” is a drama about college student and aspiring jazz drummer Andrew Neyman and the diabolical battle he fights with his very intense instructor, Terence Fletcher. Neyman endures the abuse because he wants to be “one of the greats” and he knows that Fletcher will get him there, but the harsh hoops that he is forced to jump through are almost unbearable to watch.

Actor Miles Teller, who has been performing on the drums since he was 16 years old, plays Andrew Neyman and grapples with some of the scenes in this film due to his own near-fatal experience in 2007.  Teller practiced for his role in the movie almost as much as Neyman practices to impress Fletcher.

Fletcher is played by J.K. Simmons who won an Oscar for his role in the film. Fletcher toys with his students’ psyches, pushing them to the point of risking their lives in order to earn a spot in his cutthroat band.

Writer and Director Damien Chazelle really exemplifies the tensions throughout the film with his spasmodic camera shifts and his focus on grisly images like Neyman’s blood, sweat, and tears, dripping off of the cymbals.    

True to its title, “Whiplash” jerks the audience back and forth. Fletcher seems understanding and maybe even sensitive at times, and then he quickly morphs into a sardonic tyrant. His mood swings also jolt the characters in the film, and you can’t help but wonder why they put up with Fletcher. We root for Neyman because he seems like the first student that will stand up to Fletcher and end his reign of terror, but at the same time we want him to simply leave and succeed in a less severe setting.

“Whiplash” really demands the audience to ask themselves what a person should be willing to sacrifice in order to make his/her dreams a reality.

Fletcher is always condemning his students for not playing to his tempo, which is symptomatic for all aspects of life. Not everyone plays to the same tempo, but that doesn’t mean that one person’s rhythm is more significant than another. The reality is that we all have hoops to jump through in order to succeed and there are always people out there that will push us too far. How we perform until the curtain closes is what defines us as “one of the greats.”   

This dynamic film has won three Oscars with another 75 wins and over 80 award nominations making it a “must see” on everyone’s watch list.