Whiplash

Synopsis

A young drummer in a music school is noticed by a hard-ass professor who pushes him to be the next great while pushing him to compete against his peers.

Review

What a performance. I could stop the review right there and it would be enough. Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons are beyond amazing in this movie. I am honestly astonished that Teller is this good when watching him in movies like Fantastic Four, but I see that he tapped into in for Top Gun Maverick. Anger, fear, sadness just explodes from his performance. Simmons also pushes his range in this and while we all know he is good, this is beyond most of this work.

The story is weirdly good too. I say weirdly because it really didn't end up where I expected it to be. I saw most of it coming and was expecting to be bored by it, but it is told so well that you are just happy to watch.

The rest of the cast is solid in their performance. Having worked for people that push the boundary of what is acceptable, I see them taking on the personality of the professor which is what we see in normal life too. This idea that we need to be the same to be as good or accepted. It is such a small thing that sells how well the story is being told and how much the cast as a whole cared about the project.

My Rating

This movie is crazy. I have been thinking about learning how to play the drums and this movie for sure told me that I will never be that good. While that was never my intention, it did tell me that my issue of having hands and feet do different things might not be the hardest part. I was stunned by the performances and would recommend this movie as I never heard of it until a clip popped up on social media. This is a 9.

Parental Rating

Dear sweet baby Jesus, there is a lot of crude language. This isn't "College" language, this is just an overabundance vile and targeted insults that just makes anyone who isn't ready pause the movie. I have heard similar and still said "Well ok then." There is some blood, but that is the formation of calluses and a little beyond, nothing crazy. There is no sex. While there is no sex and limited blood, the language is so hard that my parents would never make it though this movie. My mom might suffer it if someone really wanted to watch it with her, but I think it would still be too much. Rejected by both.

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