Every now and then a film comes along that reorganizes your mind in regards to the obtainable level of acting performance. It forces you to raise the bar in your mind and reassess how powerful the art form known as acting can be. The film Whiplash provides just such an example.
The story of a young prodigy musician joining a demanding music school and running headlong into its most obsessive teacher becomes the canvas on which actors J.K. Simmons and Miles Teller paint one of the most vibrant images in recent memory. Teller is the obsessive drummer with a fixation on jazz icon Buddy Rich and Simmons, the teacher with an eye on transcendence and the demands to accomplish it.
Compliments also go out to writer – director Damien Chazelle who doesn’t waste a single frame as he lets these two protagonists lock horns and egos. Chazelle has succeeded magnificently in transforming Whiplash from an award winning short film to a long player that if there is any real justice will feature most prominently in next year’s Oscar race.
Few films are truly worthy of receiving such universal acclaim and becoming such a necessity to see for both friends of film and observers of the human condition. Whiplash is must see cinema.
Rob Hudson
www.sonyclassics.com/whiplash/
