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Whiplash

Whiplash

2014
Drama, Music
1h 46m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 73.04% from 8073 total ratings

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(8073)
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Rated 12 Jan 2015
59
36th
[Screenwriter's note] Young Adult Male Protagonist (YAMP) has a goal; to be the best at Thing. If YAMP does not achieve this goal, life as he knows it is over. There is no room for friendships in the competitive world of Thing, but the adoration of the public is necessary to thrive. Using the power of Montage, YAMP gets better at Thing until that final moment where it's all or nothing. [Producer's note] Make it even more 'Hunger Gamesy' by casting a guy that kinda looks like Jennifer Lawrence
Rated 24 Feb 2015
83
92nd
Full Music Jacket
Rated 02 Jul 2016
91
91st
J.K.Simmons made a hellacious music teacher. Miles Teller was great as the promising student drummer verbally tortured to the extreme. The music was incredible, including some insanely good drum solo performances. The drama of the hardass, impossible to please teacher was sometimes quite annoying, but a good point was made about the necessity of it for pushing music students to greatness. The ending was very satisfying with the student overcoming impossible conditions in order to succeed.
Rated 20 Oct 2014
70
56th
Whiplash keeps it safe by using the same basic setup of literally every sports movie ever made, but instead 'sports' is now 'drums' and the coach is a gentrified version of Full Metal Jacket's Drill Instructor.
Rated 07 Jan 2015
65
43rd
This could have been an absorbing portrait of the student-teacher dynamic, or maybe an intelligent rumination on the nature of creativity, or the abuse of power, but instead it heads off into 'Rocky' territory where merely wanting something badly enough and having a good work ethic guarantees results in the end - the most prevalent and tired theme in all of American mainstream films. Simmons is brilliant though.
Rated 16 Jan 2015
51
40th
Watch J.K. Simmons make a shit ton of homophobic slurs and act like an asshole that is impossible to empathize with! See Miles Teller sweat profusely while making awkward faces and being super self-involved! Witness lots of close-ups of more sweat and blood too! Be prepared for a super predictable and banal ending! Get all of this and more while watching Whiplash! See it now and get a bonus amount of confusion as to why it was nominated for an Oscar and had a ton of praise heaped onto it!
Rated 23 Feb 2015
80
77th
I didn't think I could be impressed by the person who wrote The Last Exorcism Part II but here we are. Not looking forward to the next ... Movie where this'll be someone playing a kazoo. All this for a cruise ship band.
Rated 08 Mar 2016
70
65th
I'm sure this is the 'Karate Kid' for a generation of kids with tiger moms. Young autistic drummer meets the Palpatine of jazz and sports movie cliches ensue. Fingers bleed, love interests are alienated and montages pile up, because apparently that's how winning is done. This was hyped as movie of the year. It's not. Of any year. But it is a fairly entertainingly miserable little film.
Rated 28 Oct 2015
90
97th
I should have hated this; from afar, the plot seemed to tread a too familiar path (eg. montaged talent improvement), and I imagined I'd hate the characters. I did, a bit, but there is a lot more going on here. It's deftly assembled and taughtly edited, and seems to be over in a flash. The characters alternate between repellent and sympathetic, there are some great moments of tension, and the plot takes satisfying twists and turns en route to the end. Simmons nails it, BTW; truly fascinating.
Rated 23 Feb 2015
70
59th
"If you practice hard enough and take enough abuse, you too can become a decent Gene Krupa clone 70 years too late!" Certainly not a bad movie - the ending makes up for a lot of the standard sports-movie cliches, and you can't go wrong with a movie based entirely on having JK Simmons yell at people - but the enduring impression remains "Good job."
Rated 21 Nov 2014
90
97th
BLACK SWAN for jazz music, minus the surrealism but with ample intensity. Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons are nothing short of amazing and the editing makes this music film feel more energetic and magnetizing than most action movies.
Rated 31 Dec 2014
45
85th
I have a lot of thoughts about this movie: 1) This is a movie about total obsession and sociopathic behaviour, the movie never strays from this, which makes the film itself obsessive. 2) The cinematography is kept mostly to close-up shots of actors and kinetic shots of instruments. The audience almost never appears during performances, which pounds home the message that this isn't about entertainment. 3) Simmons is not right in the end. He's just found someone as sociopathic as he is.
Rated 09 Feb 2015
3
36th
as a silly, fiercely-edited homoerotic romance between assholes this is a blast, the tantalising foreplay finally exploding into an ecstatic crescendo of blood, skin-flagellation and eyefucking--BDSM becomes love. some eyerolls elsewhere (dinner, sub-SOCIAL NETWORK romance, fletcher's wannabe-gordon ramsay tirades). its provocative if rudimentary convo about democratisation is also a convo about whether it needs to meet the standards to which fletcher holds andrew. better hope the answer's no.
Rated 23 Dec 2014
75
64th
SPOILERS. That the big actualizin' finale is borne of a botched attempt at public humiliation punctuates perfectly the expression-as-personal-apocalypse ethos, and Chazelle's ambivalence about Fletcher's methods is aptly applied considering the indissolubly personal nature of the 'triumph' of those methods. The lasting effect of that pair of direct eyeline cuts is one of simultaneous liberation and imprisonment.
Rated 23 Feb 2015
70
65th
Entertaining and very well-made. But the script is severely lacking.
Rated 28 Feb 2015
95
84th
I rank it this high because I really really enjoyed and thought it was really entertaining. That being said, it never got boring, Tellers is impressive in his best work so far, and Simons is really amazing in this. Probs to some pretty good screenwriting that was predictable but still had twists,and a solid direction from Damien Chazelle. I loved this as I am a musician too. Great movie that deserved it's high praise it received! Loved the cinema! One of my favorite movies of the year for sure!
Rated 28 Sep 2014
90
97th
Whiplash is certainly quite the experience. It's a film about two people, and the kinetic energy that occurs when they do battle. One is a promising music student, and the other is the perfectionist teacher who pushes his students to the breaking point to get the most out of them. The two lead actors are great, the entire film is intense -- and surprisingly funny -- and it'll leave you feeling energized and possibly inspired after it concludes.
Rated 15 Nov 2014
90
93rd
Much like The Wrestler and Black Swan, Whiplash is more than a movie about determination. It is about the level of insanity one must endure to become truly great. It points to one of the issues of the present - a hyper sensitive world where people would rather lower the bar of excellence so that everyone gets a trophy, than allow themselves to feel the cut of failure or be pushed beyond the brink. Whiplash boasts a very strong analysis of free will, political correctness and torture.
Rated 09 Jan 2015
96
99th
I have yet to think of something about this movie that isn't exceptional. The script is lean and efficient with nary a wasted shot or line in the whole movie. The editing and direction are confident and purposeful, and the acting is killer. It all combines into a perfectly-paced, highly entertaining, surprisingly intense ride that grabbed me from the very first shot and didn't let me go until that final cut to black. One of the most satisfying movie watching experiences I've had in years.
Rated 11 Jan 2015
95
97th
Definitely one of the best movies of the year. So freaking intense with twists and turns and lies and truths, that it will leave you tearing at your skull for answers. Teller and Simmons (especially Simmons) show off their immense talent, in Chazelle's intense and heartfelt ode to jazz music and American education. Bravo.
Rated 17 Jan 2015
60
35th
An interesting, if simplistic, and broad film. Miles Teller is great, and so is J.K. Simmons, despite weak material. Simmons is a mix of Gordon Ramsay and Miranda Priestly, playing a caricature of an authoritarian madman. There's not much room for nuance, as the film is basically Black Swan without the psychosexual thriller aspect. Ideologically, the film feels muddled. Still, there's something about Teller that lifts this film.
Rated 30 Jan 2015
73
20th
I enjoyed the intensity and the acting,great directing in that respect but the character development=0.What's the teacher's story,what's the girlfriend's story ..?Andrew is under the same pressure as the other students and no-one is as appalling as he is so why am I supposed to feel anything for him.And honestly,that cheesy final act with that glimpse between the teacher and the main character...OK so we're friends now or what? Reading all the raving reviews, my high expectations were not met.
Rated 18 Feb 2015
90
96th
This is how it's fucking done!
Rated 24 Feb 2015
40
26th
Despite passing itself off as the FULL METAL JACKET of keeping time, this sticks too closely to well-worn formula. Greater insight into the creative process can be found in a typical episode of DANCE MOMS. Here, mom has been conveniently cut out of the picture, and the single female character has little to do in her brief time onscreen. A few amusing lines but all too silly, really, and the orange and teal filtering is a giveaway that the filmmakers weren't striving for much beyond a "good job".
Rated 07 Jan 2015
4
70th
An artist sacrifices himself in the name of creating great art. It's like Black Swan with drummers. JK Simmons is fantastic.
Rated 08 Jan 2015
58
48th
Effective, and worth watching, but a little overrated. There's not a lot of nuance to the characters, and once you get their ticket they become predictable. Also, I'm not sure how I feel about the story's outcome, or the filmmaker's self-awareness regarding how it ends. Sometimes you want to grab the writer-director and ask him "is that really what you want to say here?".
Rated 08 Jan 2015
85
81st
This is sure to become a cult classic in the BDSM community
Rated 10 Jan 2015
95
92nd
It doesn't let you come up for air. It's so concise, and tight, and knows exactly what it wants...just like misguided Andrew. The supporting characters are thin because they hardly matter to Andrew. Even his father is a blip, someone who is mediocre to a fault in his son's eyes. Chazelle doesn't justify Andrew's choices nor Fletcher's methods, either. They just are.
Rated 11 Jan 2015
88
96th
I don't even like Jazz.
Rated 05 Feb 2015
9
91st
Whiplash is one of my favourite films of 2014 and it's an experience that will stay with me. I won't pretend I know a thing about Jazz, and most of the terminology went over my head, but I was wholly compelled and interested for the entirety. Miles Teller is the backbone and he really surprised me. But J.K. Simmons gives one of the most extraordinary, brutal and intense performances I've ever experienced. The dark humour made me chuckle with guilt and the cinematography and music is stunning.
Rated 10 Feb 2015
95
97th
The writing is that of a conventional modern thriller with a plot that's spread thin and heavily exaggerated at points, breaks primarily serving to whet the appetite for the next confrontation between Neiman and Fletcher and not much else, but Whiplash's spin on this is a spellbinding master-student relationship that's more like a war between two aspects of the same consciousness. A breakneck pace that lives up to its title, and the only thing the ending promises is the same never-ending spiral.
Rated 18 Sep 2015
98
97th
2 amazing performances drive this thoughtful consideration of what it takes 2 be "truly great". While it's true that a society that gives awards just 4 showing up is unlikely 2 instill much striving for excellence, it's also true that Simmons' teacher is the kind of sadistic a--hole who believes the road to "genius" can only be achieved through military-style head-cracking. That tug-of-war is compelling enough, but the last 2 twists make for something devastating and then spectacular.
Rated 06 Oct 2014
80
84th
Whiplash tells a fascinating story about an ambitious drummer and a brutal, perfectionist teacher. Their archs are some of the most interesting, satisfying and engaging ones of this year. The scarce sets and distinct visual style create a subtly surreal atmosphere. The themes are worked out very well, and the energy from the two lead actors makes for a thrilling watch.
Rated 10 Oct 2014
94
99th
I wanted it not to end..
Rated 14 Oct 2014
95
98th
No fancy words: Simply Brilliant!
Rated 05 Jan 2015
74
82nd
As ridiculous as the sports analogy plays at times, you have to admit that classical musicians master their instrument through years and years of intense practice. Clearly, the film discounts the soul of jazz - outside of the lessons it has nothing much to offer - it's more of a platonic love story between two single-minded sociopaths who have found each other.
Rated 07 Jan 2015
63
67th
An entertaining, well paced variation of sports movie genre with J.K. Simmons as a drill sergeant. When you think about it, the main characters are seriously fucked up compulsive obsessive people with sociopathic tendencies. I don't see how that can be very inspiring, and least of all positive. Some good acting, editing and music, and it's definitely worth seeing, but it's also hugely over-rated.
Rated 15 Jan 2015
10
98th
A brilliant movie and my personal favorite of 2014. The writing is excellent, there's not one scene that's out of place or unneeded. It's so intense that my chest was starting to hurt while watching. It's quite an accomplishment to take a movie with literally zero redeeming or likable characters and make it amazing. Loved the message and JK Simmons is a lock for all kinds of awards.
Rated 16 Jan 2015
95
91st
J.K Simmons has to win Best Supporting Actor. His performance is menacing and everytime he yells he gives you chills. His ways of dealing with with these kids are controversial, but he creates a drive and a passion in Miles Tellers Andrew that is rarely seen on the screen. Andrew pushes himself to the brink of insanity, allowing his threshold for physical pain to pushed to the limits in order to be the best. This film is electric, full of amazing music and definitely a contender for best picture
Rated 19 Jan 2015
95
98th
Full Metal Jazz-it... I loved it. Ending on a high note with what felt like an epic battle between good an evil, without taking sides.
Rated 21 Jan 2015
76
71st
This movie desperately needed 20 to 30 minutes more of character development and pacing to real time versus bouncing from major plot point to major plot point. Instead I got a kind of rushed rocky/bagger vance/any other protege movie kind of feel. Performances were good, though.
Rated 12 Feb 2015
88
92nd
"I can still fu**ing see you mini me!"
Rated 21 Feb 2015
10
97th
(after repeat viewings) Rarely has a film spoken to me on a deeper professional and personal level as Chazelle's thrilling love letter to jazz music. In one word: sensational.
Rated 05 Apr 2015
10
98th
Simmons as the terrifying and unpredictable Fletcher has you on the edge of your seat every time he makes an appearance, and Teller as the ambitious Andrew matches him punch for punch to complete a unforgettably passionate on-screen relationship that raises fascinating questions about the nature of art and the moral issues regarding human ability and drive. The film is intense, disturbing, and without a wasted scene: only after its brilliant and mesmerizing finale can you finally take a breath.
Rated 28 Apr 2015
83
77th
There is a reason to see this movie, and his name is J.K. Simmons. It pains me to say that, as someone who didn't quite love "Birdman" but still really wanted Keaton to walk away with the Best Actor trophy, anyway -- whatever THAT means. He's a terrifying whirlwind of spittle and profanities in this one -- no easy feat for a guy his stature and his age. But he nearly had me cowering for my own safety at times and there's something to be said for that. 'Sup Paul Reiser.
Rated 10 May 2015
68
35th
Very well acted, but man fuck this whole movie. It's not even that I'm mad that Fletcher is an asshole, it's that this story is discomfort-baiting clad in shots of a dude being upset while playing drums just to fucking finish off with "Well Fletcher was right, I mean, he ruined my life through emotional abuse but damn can I do a mean solo, probably going to be amazing now." And maybe the point is that becoming good and famous is sometimes hellish, but it could have been told so much better.
Rated 11 May 2015
60
26th
While certainly entertaining with its crisp editing and a score that really brings a sense of forward motion to the film, I found the plotting and characterization to be much less successful. In particular, the final act becomes an exercise in one-upmanship. Sure, it might work on the level of a parable, but as a film ostensibly about a kid in the real world, it is difficult to give the benefit of the doubt.
Rated 30 Jul 2015
80
68th
This would be a lot better if the instructor weren't comically psychopathic and destructive beyond belief. Who throws chairs at people and then their own drums? Turning up the psychopathy and abuse for dramatic effect is cheap compared to improving the logic of the story. Chazelle demonstrates through a lot of little details that he can do nuance, which makes this all the more bewildering. The rating rests on a fantastic performance at the very end.
Rated 26 Apr 2016
7
31st
I fucking love this film on one level. Riveting performances and editing. The ending is obviously sensational. But on the other hand, lol @ people who think this is "jazz". It bastardizes the very art form it has been deemed a celebration of. Also, the music Fletcher plays is actually starbucks jazz. The irony levels are through the roof
Rated 22 Oct 2018
76
47th
A movie as intense and engaging as its reputation claims, but I'm not particularly comfortable with what the movie has to say about anything. Miles Teller's petulant and unsympathetic behavior and J.K. Simmons' abuses in the name of "art" and "greatness" get essentially zero pushback (and are even encouraged, considering the triumphant ending). It's a little more nuanced than that, and it is a good watch, but as far as I can tell, it's ultimately a pretty gross ode to extreme narcissism.
Rated 13 Dec 2018
76
60th
Technically excellent, edited to precision with a career performance from Simmons. But hard disagree with the apparent message that true talent comes from hyper-criticism and the truest from abuse, leaving a weird depiction of jazz as something that isn't fun and nobody enjoys doing. People aren't drafted into music school, so the film's insistence on presenting itself as Full Metal Jazz Kit seems totally outlandish.
Rated 31 Aug 2020
84
86th
An enthralling depiction of obsession and a unique take on abusive relationships. Teller might have a spotty track record, but he has talent and I hope he sticks around.
Rated 20 Nov 2014
86
77th
A student training to be a jazz drummer (Miles Teller) butts heads with his teacher (J.K. Simmons), who will do anything--including psychologically abusing them--to push his students to greatness. Visceral study of determination and how it mutates into obsession, and how for some artistic greatness comes at the expense of their soul. Damien Chazelle's direction is forceful; however, his script strains credulity at times. Teller and Simmons (doing his best R. Lee Ermey) give searing performances.
Rated 21 Nov 2014
88
89th
And the Oscar for best supporting actor goes to J.K. Simmons.
Rated 04 Jan 2015
85
96th
What is the cost of perfection? J.K. Simmons is a musical version of Bobby Knight, Steve Jobs, Nurse Ratched and any ruthless corporate dictator who believes that the very best only comes from an ordeal of pain and humiliation. Sadly, they mean well, but they confuse motivation with victimization, and they refuse to acknowledge the huge price paid by the people under their authority who do not meet their standards. Simmons' s performance is, and probably will remain, the role of his career.
Rated 06 Jan 2015
78
63rd
Whiplash is an absorbing experience from an immensely talented director. It's such a pity that among its blood, sweat and exhilarating momentum it forgets to develop the ideology it so aggressively pins upon us.
Rated 06 Jan 2015
93
97th
Vern Schillinger is killing it.
Rated 07 Jan 2015
93
96th
Perhaps the most powerful movie of the year. Absorbing and intense.
Rated 13 Jan 2015
50
33rd
A jazzy Black Swan.
Rated 17 Jan 2015
70
84th
Young ambitious asshole falls under the tutelage of old abusive asshole. The moral? Assholes abound.
Rated 18 Jan 2015
4
90th
For me this is an all or nothing movie. Either you appreciate the musical technicalities and the drive, or you don't. I did. - Very Good
Rated 18 Jan 2015
30
22nd
But it's that same drastic depiction--filled with some of the harshest, most profane and demeaning personal attacks you don't want to imagine--that ultimately undermines the serious, provocative questions Whiplash asks about pursuing excellence and how we all might be pushed toward it. Wherever the line is, we know that Fletcher is way, way over it. (pluggedin.com)
Rated 19 Jan 2015
90
80th
Wow this is surprisingly underappreciated on here. This is one of the most tightly crafted movies I've seen in a long time; never a wasted second or frame and all exceptionally imagined. Yeah the premise is similar to other sports/music driven youth films but this just blows them all out of the water with incredible acting, inspired direction, a tight script and just a superior understanding of the power that film is inherently capable of.
Rated 20 Jan 2015
87
94th
Exceptional music, well acted. J.K. Simmons does his best Gunnery Sgt. Hartman and pushes Miles Teller's Private Pyle to just shy of the bathroom scene. It's good, I liked it, you should watch it.
Rated 21 Jan 2015
87
78th
This move is a metaphor for spousal abuse. Loved it.
Rated 23 Jan 2015
80
79th
It's a bit like the karate kid with drums if mr Miagi was the drill instructor from Full Metal Jacket.
Rated 25 Jan 2015
83
82nd
Jump cuts, drums, J.K. Simmons, close ups, and Teller. That is really about it in this lean, yet very effective, drama. Intense is an understatement.
Rated 25 Jan 2015
55
28th
A young fresh faced kid straight out of high school wants to be all he can be. A tough drill sergeant completely breaks him with enough insults, mental torture, and physical anguish. The fresh faced youth eventually grows up and meets his drill sergeant's expectations making everything both have done worthwhile. Ladies and gentlemen I present to you, the best military propaganda film of the year...Whiplash!
Rated 25 Jan 2015
94
96th
Interesting theme, perfectly executed, moving.
Rated 25 Jan 2015
90
97th
An intense and horrifying look at the pursuit of greatness and the danger of seeing that "greatness" as a linear goal. Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons give two of the best performances of the year as, essentially, two different incarnations of the same person: a horribly misguided yet determined perfectionist obsessed with reaching the insurmountable heights they've created for themselves. This isn't a movie about "getting better" -- it's about how getting better is never enough. Incredible.
Rated 26 Jan 2015
75
93rd
Andrew should be grateful that all Schillinger did was throw a chair at him. He could have branded his ass with a Swastika!
Rated 29 Jan 2015
90
91st
After dreadful Oscar bait like Selma and The Imitation Game, what a breath of fresh air to see this visceral, exhilarating film. There is so much passion in every frame, in every close-up, and every pulse-pounding beat of the drum. The entire film feels like a rock-and-roll jazz performance, with musically-timed cuts and close-ups. Simmons's performance is not one note, either--there's a real person underneath. Beautiful film that I can't wait to revisit.
Rated 01 Feb 2015
91
96th
Funny, intelligent, dynamic. Awesome music and a brilliant performance by J.K. Simmons. Teller isn't much worse in the lead.
Rated 02 Feb 2015
80
87th
The subject of this movie is interesting and using the drums as driver of perfection makes a good balance between the artistic and physical effort. The conflict is very well developed and how the main character's changes from the beginning to the end are great, also raises some questions about the path we decided to follow and the compromises we have to do. Well acted and a very good edition, it was a very good and entertaining movie.
Rated 03 Feb 2015
80
85th
It's only fitting that a film about drumming is one of the most rhythmic in recent memory, hardly missing a beat *snare-hi-hat-flying chair-car crash* all in perfect tempo. It's a pity the script can be really formulaic -it takes Simmons' best efforts not to make a total caricature out of Fletcher and the cliches keep pouring when it comes to the protagonist's (Teller's really good by the way) 'unhealthy' ambition. But when the camera and the beats take hand, it's some fabulous filmmaking.
Rated 08 Feb 2015
65
53rd
expertly shot, spot on performances, masterful editing that fits the prerecorded material like a glove, "whiplash" shows off everything it has in common with its protagonist. an obsessive ambition for technical perfection. and no soul. sure, practice makes excellence and plays a big part. but i can only shrug at the idea of promoting that sitting like a robot in a room with a drumkit until you become buddy rich is actually what jazz, or anything related to music, is about.
Rated 09 Feb 2015
70
36th
There are more decent movies about pursuit of greatness. Moreover, there are better and charismatic characters than one played by J.K Simmons with his homophobic trash talk.
Rated 14 Feb 2015
80
90th
I was captivated for every second. The intensity of some of the scenes was really palpable. J.K. Simmons is terrifying one moment, and charming the next - he's brilliant. I was also really impressed with Miles Teller, who conveyed what his character was going through very well. It has a nice, tight screenplay, and I liked the cinematographer's use of artificial lighting. A lot of its story elements are far from original, but that didn't hinder my enjoyment of it one bit.
Rated 16 Feb 2015
5
69th
Excellent performances aside, the characters are so underdeveloped and unbelievable -- perhaps intentionally so -- that it's hard to see them as anything other than vessels for the film's central message. The comparisons to Black Swan are apt, but this lacks that film's narrative and perhaps even cinematic complexity. God damn those performance, though. Definitely worth seeing for Simmons alone.
Rated 17 Feb 2015
87
87th
The film thrives on absolutely great energy, intensity and interplay between the two leads. It doesn't go as big or as complex as it could, but it does great within the limits it sets itself and the ending pushes it up a notch.
Rated 21 Feb 2015
55
10th
What an over the top movie. The scene regarding the second contest (you know the one I'm talking about) was completely and utterly unbelievable. J.K. Simmons for best supporting actor, please save me. There are so many logic gaps in this movie. Also the character development was nonexistent. I had absolutely no reason to care. That said the cinematography was ok, and the music/sound editing/mixing was obviously very good. But then again the whole thing is painfully repetitive and contrived so...
Rated 23 Feb 2015
75
87th
Dismissing this as "a simple sports movie in disguise" is too easy. See the whole film and not just the trailer.
Rated 23 Feb 2015
95
98th
The power of addiction comes in many forms, this is one of them. JK Simmons and Miles Teller both put together amazing performances that really carry the whole film. It's exciting, tense and it does not overstay its welcome. One of the best of the year.
Rated 02 Mar 2015
5
91st
An unlikely couple finds out that their dreams can only be achieved not through mutual love and understanding but through abuse and co-dependency.
Rated 03 Mar 2015
8
93rd
I would argue that too much of the plot is based on coincidences and accidents (lost folder, flat tire, car crash, etc.), but that doesn't take aware from the film's ultimate power or style or energy, and certainly doesn't take away form J.K. Simmons wholly incredible, ruthless performance, which he absolutely, 100% earned his Best Supporting Actor statue for. The film builds and builds up to an explosive, captivating ending.
Rated 06 Mar 2015
80
71st
Whiplash has a delectably tense pulse. Miles Teller is clearly still on the rise and dishes out another fine performance after killing it in The Spectacular Now. The climax of the film has been deservedly praised. It's a completely insane, brilliantly cinematic moment. At times the film loses its edge, with a moment like that same angle of a t-bone car accident that I see in thirty movies a year feeling like an unfortunate shark-jump. Still, its heights are not to be missed.
Rated 25 Apr 2015
8
72nd
I feel Whiplash's strength is its ambivalence towards Fletcher's methods and the innate drive necessary to become 'great'.
Rated 05 May 2015
75
81st
On a particular kind of (american?) Greatness requiring a beating, a self-dehumanization, revealing an ill society, persons and institutions that the cheering crowds dont see.
Rated 19 Oct 2015
2
21st
Plays lockstep to the tempo of established formulas. It's another drama in which outcast-but-special characters and unorthodox methods are meant to inspire, yet it's an utterly generic and compromising film, not as morally ambiguous as it aspires to be, and is in fact an affirmation of terrible behavior.
Rated 24 Nov 2015
10
2nd
Another example of where I must have watched a completely different film from everyone else. The character development isn't just lacking, it's practically non-existent; the "great cinematography" is undoubtedly impressive but only comprises of comedy drummers' faces. The message of the film is dishonest and trite. Nothing good I can say about this.
Rated 19 Jan 2016
84
89th
Schrodinger's Jazz: the drummer is simultaneously rushing and lagging.
Rated 25 Oct 2014
90
80th
Viewed October 24, 2014. Raw. It's all about the crack of that snare drum.
Rated 31 Oct 2014
95
93rd
By the end of the film, I was literally on the edge of my seat, jaw agape, marveling at what is one of the most visceral climaxes I've seen on screen in years.
Rated 09 Nov 2014
83
93rd
An edge-of-your-seat thriller about drums, somehow. Teller and Simmons are fantastic.
Rated 15 Nov 2014
90
81st
One of the most intense movies I've ever seen. A drama that builds in intensity through sharp-witted dialogue and perfect editing rhythm. The story of a musician attempting to get a big break as an artist is moving, and the face-off between actors Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons is electrifying. I do wish the film wasn't so focused on the leads. Secondary characters are just there to push them down the inevitable path. But that limited view works to make it an emotionally-charged story.
Rated 21 Nov 2014
86
62nd
Instead of a film centred around superb performances that contains drumming, it's a film centred around drumming that contains superb performances. The frantic and intense pacing and flashes and noise will grab you by the throat and entrance you for far longer than you'd think you'd be willing. It's brutal. It's brutal not because JK Simmons is great at yelling, but because of its focus on obsession with perfection.
Rated 05 Jan 2015
85
98th
WOW, watch this film , electrifying.
Rated 06 Jan 2015
84
91st
An intense, impeccably paced film that would work alone as an old time radio story. The performances by J.K, Simmons and Miles Teller as unlikable but highly motivated actors only add to the film's final catharsis.
Rated 06 Jan 2015
79
81st
I think they overcooked this a little--had a difficult time buying that Teller's character would emerge bloody and battered from a car wreck and still rush to hit the stage in time for his performance (let alone that he'd even be allowed to, in the first place). But it's a sharp, sizzling, pertinent, angry drama about drive and motivation and the creation of art. And Simmons is beyond terrific.
Rated 06 Jan 2015
94
89th
The 2010's gave us a cool selection of coming-of-age stories viewed via a lens of psychological drama. And this picture is up there with The Social Network & Luce. The great approach makes the instructor/student relationship closer to Full Metal Jacket than Dangerous Minds. As such, the philosophical question of how far can you bend a true prodigy is endless fascinating. And boy, this movie has some good acting sequences. Recommended for the person you know who just HAS to achieve their dream.

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