By this point, we probably already know why you’ve come to this article…
You’re looking to break up the week with a high-quality flick, but want to avoid the endless scrolling and decision-making involved whenever you log into your streaming homepage of choice. Well look no further, because this week we’re coming to you with another humpday movie in our latest edition of Executive Decision.
If you haven’t already seen Damien Chazelle’s 2014 psychological drama ‘Whiplash,’ we just have to ask…why? An intense portrait of an ambitious jazz drummer (played by Miles Teller) and his abusive mentor (played by J.K. Simmons), ‘Whiplash’ features stellar performances and asks compelling questions about the cost of greatness. But it doesn’t stop there. Here’s a list of five reasons you should watch ‘Whiplash’ tonight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7d_jQycdQGo
1. Career-maker for J.K. Simmons.
Before his masterful turn in ‘Whiplash,’ J.K. Simmons played minor roles and side characters (most notably as Peter Parker’s boss in the O.G ‘Spiderman’ trilogy), without ever really occupying the centre-stage. Simmons clearly lapped up his time in the limelight in ‘Whiplash’, and his role as the opportunistic and downright evil bandleader Fletcher is unturnoffable. After noticing the potential in his newest drumming student Andrew, Fletcher pushes (or bullies?) the equally-ambitious musician well beyond his limits, to the point of both psychological and physical torture. It takes considerable tact to play such a brutal character, and Simmons was rightfully awarded for his efforts with an Oscar win for Best Supporting Actor.
2. The intensity.
The intensity of ‘Whiplash’ is unparalleled, and while this comes thanks to the casts’ biting performances, it’s also a result of thrilling writing and editing across the board. Chazzelle’s camera whips back and forth between characters, hitting every beat on the soundtrack and making for a rhythmic and continuously-escalating experience. So intense is the movie that scenes of Miles Teller’s bleeding hands from over-drumming were kept in the final cut, and so too were the real-life face slaps between Teller and Simmons. All of this adds up to a movie that takes blood, sweat and tears.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hTv2roEVes
3. Rushing or dragging?
Another testament to the performances and editing, the movies’ most intense scene comes when Andrew riffs on his drum set under Fletcher’s hyper-watchful eye. Until this point, Fletcher’s menacing assertiveness was implicitly felt, but never seen (if anything, he’s deceptively friendly). It’s only when he repeatedly questions whether Andrew is rushing or dragging on the drums, and then proceeds to launch a chair across the room when he can’t perfect the manoeuvre, that Fletcher’s true domineering character is revealed. It’s the scene that sets up the films’ uneasy tone, and a standout for the movie as a whole.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDAsABdkWSc
4. A portrait of ambitious musos.
Damian Chazelle’s later directorial credits in films like ‘La La Land’ should give you an idea of his affinity for musicians, and the plight of Andrew in ‘Whiplash’ is no exception. While Andrew’s pursuit of musical stardom becomes grossly unhealthy (he shuns his father and girlfriend, and continues his set after an almost-fatal car crash), the idea of an artist obsessing over perfection at all costs is a compelling one. You root for Andrew to become the greatest drummer of all time, while wincing at Fletcher’s methods to get him there. Even the dazzling finale, which is equal parts triumphant and ambiguous, muddies the waters about what it takes to be the greatest.
5. Jazz never sounded so thrilling.
While jazz is most often associated with casualness and ease, Chazelle uses the genre unexpectedly as a soundtrack to Andrew’s torture. The musicality of the film makes it feel like a jazz song itself, slowly building with thunderous riffs before crescendoing with a cymbal clash of an ending. The result of this jazzy chaos comes in the final drumming scene (see below), so climactic and jolting it makes the movie live up to its title.
