Whiplash: Review

I thought Whiplash was an excellent film... but I didn't like it.

Going in I had some expectations of what this film was going to be. I had heard the acting was amazing, the music was incredible and I assumed it to be quite a hopeful and inspiring story with some dark moments but an overall triumphant resolution.

Whiplash is not a feel-good film. Whiplash is a horror story with a villain even scarier than the supernatural... J.K Simmons

Joking aside there's a lot to discuss here especially what it does to be such a good film and why I will probably never watch it again.

I know that there's a lot of people who really love this film and I've met a few film students who claim it to be their favourite. I don't intend this review to be an attack on that because I completely understand why. When I say I didn't enjoy the film I know that this is a film you're not meant to enjoy. This is intentionally a rough watch but I didn't enjoy it as in I didn't "get it". After some discussion with peers I think I've come to understand what the film is about and it does raise some interesting questions and themes. I'm just not quite sure what it's trying to say about those themes if it's saying anything at all.

1. Plot

Whiplash is about a young drum player called Andrew who enrolls in a prestigious music college in the hopes of becoming a professional drummer. His abilities are spotted by music tutor Terence Fletcher who recruits him into his elite jazz band and mentors him. However, Fletchers unconventional and cruel methods push Andrew beyond reason and sensibility. Every practice session he is subjected to an onslaught of verbal and sometimes physical abuse.

Whiplash is about being pushed to the brink in order to find excellence. It's about resilience in the face of a monster and asks if Terrance's methods are the only way to achieve perfection.

These are all interesting concepts. As someone who has done coaching and has been coached in both sport and music I have often wondered where the correct balance is between encouragement and being pushed to do better. Sometimes I do feel like the teachers in my life have gone too easy on me, whether it's because they didn't see the potential for much talent in my future or possibly because of my gender. However, when I look at the character of Fletcher I don't see someone who pushes his pupils to do better, I see someone that pushes his pupils into the abyss.

This is where I believe the greatest flaw of the film lies. Fletcher is such a monster that it becomes increasingly difficult for me to take the themes of the film seriously. I know that teachers like him have and do exist but he just doesn't seem to be a very good teacher. If he spent half the time he spends hurling homophobic abuse at Andrew teaching him the technique to get it right, he'd get far better results! He neglects the rest of his band so he can torture one poor sod and we never see him pick up an instrument. We know so little about this man that his methods seem unjustified especially since we learn they have never given him great results and have driven one of his best former students to suicide.

This creates a character who seems to embody a theme rather than a personality. We do get one moment of vulnerability from him, a turning point I thought would reveal more about his character but again this seemed only surface level. If Fletcher had been a character I could bring myself to understand or if his methods did reap lasting results other than psychological trauma then it would have created a much more compelling argument for what the film is about. As it stands I wasn't sure what they were trying to say about Fletcher's methods and success. The film doesn't seem to condemn nor congratulate him. Perhaps this is the point and we need to decide as an audience but if that is the case I don't think they made Fletcher a human enough character for anyone to think his methods are justifiable. And if the audience concludes that his methods are wrong and he's just a terrible person... then all we're watching is a film where a tyrannic dickhead is a tyrannic dickhead... and nothing much changes and the film doesn't do enough to challenge that belief.

2. The Good Stuff

All that aside there's a lot of good stuff going on in this film. Mainly the cinematography of Sharone Meir who films music in a way I have never seen done before and really captures the intensity of each and every scene. The look of the film is its saving grace in my opinion as I doubt it would have left much impact on me at all if it wasn't a technically gorgeous film.

The acting is also due praise. As little as is revealed about Fletcher, J.K Simmons gives an incredible performance that does hint at something deeper even though the film never ventures there. Miles Teller also does a brilliant job as Andrew even though we are given little to like about his character either.

The music is obviously fantastic, if it wasn't then there would be no purpose to this film. Even more impressive is the way the film uses silence, manipulating the sound to create an atmosphere that drenches the entire film in tension.

It's masterful filmmaking but for me the writing just wasn't there to match it.

Conclusion

Whiplash is an idea rather than a story. I can't deny that the idea is executed to near perfection but while I expected to leave the film riled and emotionally spent, I ended up just feeling very empty. I held no real fondness or even understanding for either character and while I now understand what the film is about I still can't help but wonder why it was about that thing and what it was trying to say?

It might just be that this isn't a film for me and it didn't land because I'm not someone who would "get it".

I like challenging films, I like things that are unconventional but this film just felt like being shouted at in school by the teacher for something that was actually the fault of the kid behind you. I didn't feel like it was talking to me and I wasn't really sure what it was telling me.

Despite that I do think it's an interesting film to discuss and a lot of people get a lot out of it so who am I to say? Just don't expect to come out smiling!

5/10