whiplash movie review reddit

Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors.

Now streaming on:

"Whiplash" is cinematic adrenalin. In an era when so many films feel more refined by focus groups or marketing managers, it is a deeply personal and vibrantly alive drama. Damien Chazelle has taken a relatively staid subject like the relationship between a music student and his teacher and turned it into a thriller built on a brilliant undercurrent of social commentary about what it takes to make it in an increasingly competitive and cutthroat world. How far are you willing to push yourself to succeed? How far are you willing to push someone else to force them on the path to success? Carried by two electric performances, the tightest editing in a film this year and a daring screenplay that writes itself into a corner and then somehow finds an unexpected way out, "Whiplash" is as breathless as a drum solo, rising and falling just as the hopes and dreams of its protagonist climb and crash.

A young man named Andrew Neyman ( Miles Teller ) is practicing late at night at his New York music school, one of the best in the country, when his drumming catches the ear of the infamous Mr. Fletcher (J.K. Simmons), the most important teacher at the school and the conductor for its most important jazz band. Fletcher pauses, listens, barks a few orders at the young man, and moves on, seemingly dissatisfied with what he heard. Andrew had his chance, that one brief moment many of us have to impress the people who can change our lives, and he didn't cut it. He goes back to his routine class band, telling his dad (a wonderfully genuine Paul Reiser ) that his opportunity to move up probably passed him by.

Of course, Fletcher's dismissal of Andrew in that first scene is just the first of many examples of what could politely be called his "teaching style." Fletcher likes to tell the apocryphal story of how Jo Jones threw a cymbal at Charlie Parker's head one night when he messed up, thereby pushing him to the breaking point at which he became Bird. Without that cymbal, would music history be the same? Would Charlie Parker have gone home, refined, practiced and driven himself without the threat of not just failure but physical violence? Fletcher uses that kind of barbarous technique on his students: throwing furniture, calling Andrew names, playing mind games and physically torturing him with repetitive drum solos until he bleeds on the kit. But that blood feeds his musical passion. And Andrew blossoms, asking out the cute girl he's been afraid to talk to before, and taking first chair in the most important band at the most important music school in the country.

Miles Teller, so great in breakthrough roles in “ Rabbit Hole ” and “ The Spectacular Now ,” does the best work of his young career here as Andrew, finding the perfect blend of insecurity and confidence that comes entangled in the core of a young talent. Andrew is naturally apprehensive, but he also knows he has a drive, a passion, a skill that is unique. Teller walks that line, never faltering by making Andrew too confident while also carefully letting viewers see the spark within that Fletcher fuels.

As for Simmons, Fletcher could have been such a caricature in the wrong actor’s hands. An over-the-top, abusive teacher is a part riddled with pitfalls. Simmons falls into none of them. He walks such a line that, even after the kind of inhumane mind games and physical abuse that should produce legal charges has unfolded on screen, we find ourselves drawn to Fletcher. He’s not 100% wrong when he says that the most dangerous two words in the English language are “good job.” Whether you think it's the right approach or not, we’re in an era of praise, where encouragement is the teaching tool and every kid gets a medal for participation. Have true talents been left to wither because they were over-watered? Simmons perfectly captures the drive of a man who believes his abusive degree of pressure is the only way to produce a diamond.

While “Whiplash” would be a notable film purely for Teller and Simmons’ performances, it reaches a different level when one considers the execution of its tempo. Editor Tom Cross and cinematographer Sharone Meir often put us right on stage with Andrew and Fletcher, cutting and panning in rhythm with the beat of the drum. It is captivating, to say the least, particularly in a climax that produces more tension than any action film or thriller this year. The title refers to a song played multiple times throughout Chazelle’s film. It could also refer to that sense of wowed exhaustion you’ll feel when it’s over.

Brian Tallerico

Brian Tallerico is the Managing Editor of RogerEbert.com, and also covers television, film, Blu-ray, and video games. He is also a writer for Vulture, The Playlist, The New York Times, and GQ, and the President of the Chicago Film Critics Association.

Now playing

Glenn Kenny

Kim's Video

Space: The Longest Goodbye

Marya e. gates.

The First Omen

Tomris laffly.

Simon Abrams

Riddle of Fire

Robert daniels, film credits.

Whiplash (2014)

Rated R for strong language including some sexual references

106 minutes

Miles Teller as Andrew Neyman

J.K. Simmons as Terence Fletcher

Paul Reiser as Jim

Melissa Benoist as Nicole

Austin Stowell as Ryan

• Damien Chazelle

Director of Photography

• Sharone Meir

Latest blog posts

​Criterion Celebrates the Films That Forever Shifted Our Perception of Kristen Stewart​

The Estate of George Carlin Destroys AI George Carlin in Victory for Copyright Protection (and Basic Decency)

The Future of the Movies, Part 3: Fathom Events CEO Ray Nutt

11:11 - Eleven Reviews by Roger Ebert from 2011 in Remembrance of His Transition 11 Years Ago

Things you buy through our links may earn  Vox Media  a commission.

Ask a Juilliard Professor: How Real Is Whiplash ?

Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash stormed its way into theaters last weekend with a militaristic take on jazz musicians, their mentors, collaborators, and ambitions. Although Chazelle has said much of the inspiration for the film came from his very real high-school experiences, elements of the film were heightened for dramatic purposes. “M y teacher was a little less of a monster,” he said at the film’s East Coast premiere. “I was in a very competitive jazz band that toured around the world, and the teacher modeled it after college programs and professional programs. It was a climate of fear and tough love, and I just remember feeling those emotions of anxiety and stress and anguish as a drummer, and I wanted to make a movie about what that felt like.” Vulture consulted Mark Sherman — a multi-instrumentalist and international performer who also serves as a jazz faculty member at The Juilliard School, New Jersey City University, and the New York Jazz Workshop — about what should be considered fact and what should be considered fiction . ( Mild spoilers for the movie follow. )

1. There’s blood, but it’s not that bad. “You know how the drummer is so frustrated and scared, and his desire to succeed is so strong? He’s practicing, really trying to get faster and faster, and he’s drawing blood. That’s unrealistic. People don’t draw blood like that, playing music. It just doesn’t happen, and if you do, you’re holding the sticks wrong. You’re screwed up technically if you’re drawing blood. I’ve never seen anyone draw blood. I used to draw blood on the vibes a lot, because the mallets are being held between your fingers. Sometimes I would play loud and break a callus. Popping calluses, breaking blisters.”

2. That’s not really how you practice drums. Some of the things the drummer was practicing were not really things you’d want to practice. When Andrew was drawing blood, for example, he was playing the single strokes so fast and for so long. They were trying to show how deep Fletcher had hurt him and how much the kid wanted it, but practicing like that in and of itself is psychotic and insane.

3. Sure, there’s pressure at music schools, but come on! As I watched the movie, I thought two things: This kid Andrew is going to come to practice with a gun . Then, he’s going to shoot the guy. The whole way, I thought it was going to be a statement on the type of stuff that’s happening in schools today, where a kid comes in with a machine gun and blows everybody away. Either that, or I thought the kid would commit suicide. It makes me feel bad that people are being led to believe that trying to get a career in music or jazz … this is what you got to go through. I teach at a place like Juilliard, which is top-tier, and a lot of these kids are under a lot of pressure, yes. But not that kind of pressure. The pressure, ultimately, is the pressure you put on yourself, to survive and succeed in the industry.

4. Fletchers do exist, but they’re not that cruel. I know some people — and I don’t want to mention names — but [one] was the director of jazz studies at one of the schools I taught at. He’s not there anymore because he retired. He was a guy who, in the big band rehearsals, used to turn a lot of kids and teachers off by calling them “assholes” and “stupid idiots.” Not screaming it at the top of his lungs, but using words like that. Even that little bit of verbal badgering was enough to get people to be unhappy. I could see why that would turn a young aspiring player off. Of course, then there’s a lot of reproaches. You could say, “The tough only survive, you got to be tough,” or “If you can’t take this shit, you’ll never make it out there.” Well, there’s part of that that’s true, but I don’t think that’s the way to show it or teach it. This type of mental and verbal abuse, borderlining on physical, is taken so seriously that he’d be thrown out of Juilliard and most schools no matter how great he was. If Wynton Marsalis, who’s my boss here at Juilliard, did that — called kids “cocksuckers” and badgered kids like that — he’d be thrown out.

5. Lessons do go awry if students are unprepared — it’s just not as terrifying. My expectation, particularly of the Juilliard students, is to follow the rules here: Lateness and absences count in a big way. My expectations are: Show up on time, with the work I’ve assigned to you prepared, and/or more. If a kid comes into a lesson and they haven’t prepared their lesson properly, we don’t need to sit here and watch them practice. So we might say, Okay, you practice and I’m going out for a cup of coffee. I’ll be back in 20 or 40 minutes and see where you’re at.

6. Yes, the standards are extremely demanding. I expect my students to be like I was when I was their age. I used to practice about six or seven hours a day, go to all the classes and orchestra rehearsals. It was 14 hours a day in this school thing every day for five years. And for that, you get a little career. I used to enter the building at 8 a.m. and leave at 11:30 p.m. That’s all I did for five years, when I went to school here. You want to get good at something, you do it hard for ten years. Practice perfectly for ten years, and you’ll have what you want — that’s how you get to the next level.

7. For some, it’s true, music can be a solitary career. That part [in which Andrew breaks off with his girlfriend to chase his dreams] is a valid point. The commitment that it takes to play music is like any other art form. The commitment of trying to be a master of jazz’s poetic language is an addiction, just like a drug, and there can be very little room for a social life. Some kids here can’t find a balance. That’s a reality; there are lots of people like that. You become a hermit from practicing so much. But you know what? The guys who stay in here for ten hours a day? Those are the ones who come out on top a lot of the time.

8. The movie’s end is real and raw. I actually cried at the end, when the kid was kicking ass in the last tune. And the most important thing about that scene is maybe what the band director was trying to get out of all the students from the very beginning — my take on it, at least — which is he’s trying to teach them to be leaders like he is. And at the very end, Miles Teller says, “I’ll cue you.” He’s the leader now.

• mark sherman
• damien chazelle
• j.k. simmons
• miles teller
• ask an expert

Most Viewed Stories

• Cinematrix No. 31: April 8, 2024
• Saturday Night Live Recap: Kristen Wiig Brings Her Friends
• What Quiet on Set Leaves Out Is Just As Damning
• The 12 Best Movies and TV Shows to Watch This Weekend
• 9-1-1 ’s Oliver Stark Doesn’t Care If You Have a Problem with Buck’s Gay Kiss
• The Zone of Interest ’s Final Moments Are a Nazi Workaholic’s Nightmare
• The Regime Finale Recap: A Little Wobble

Editor’s Picks

Most Popular

What is your email.

This email will be used to sign into all New York sites. By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive email correspondence from us.

Sign In To Continue Reading

Create your free account.

Password must be at least 8 characters and contain:

• Lower case letters (a-z)
• Upper case letters (A-Z)
• Numbers (0-9)
• Special Characters (!@#$%^&*)

As part of your account, you’ll receive occasional updates and offers from New York , which you can opt out of anytime.

The Definitive Voice of Entertainment News

Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter

site categories

‘whiplash’: what the critics are saying.

Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons drum up music-minded drama in the film festival favorite from Damien Chazelle

By Ashley Lee

• Share this article on Facebook
• Share this article on Twitter
• Share this article on Flipboard
• Share this article on Email
• Show additional share options
• Share this article on Linkedin
• Share this article on Pinit
• Share this article on Reddit
• Share this article on Tumblr
• Share this article on Whatsapp
• Share this article on Print
• Share this article on Comment

Whiplash , out Friday, follows an aspiring jazz drummer who is berated by his performing arts professor. The Sony Pictures Classics music drama, which began as a short and quickly became a film festival favorite , is loosely based on writer-director Damien Chazelle ‘s high school band experiences and pulls on Miles Teller ‘s rock-band drumming and J.K. Simmons ‘ classical music training, but mostly aims to ask the question of whether the talent worth the torment .

Read what top critics are saying about Whiplash :

The Hollywood Reporter’s chief film critic Todd McCarthy writes that the film “is about the wages of all-out sacrifice and commitment; it may not endorse Fletcher’s utter ruthlessness (the man clearly has emotional and psychological issues that are not dealt with here), but nor does it take a soft-headed, blandly feel-good stance; as Fletcher cuttingly remarks at one point, the lamest two words in the English language are, ‘good job.'” Though there are some practical question marks about its ending, it “confirms Chazelle as a notable talent.” Its “ early rehearsal scenes are grippingly portrayed ” and “the music track is full of riches.”

Watch more   Miles Teller, J.K. Simmons Drum Up Hard Hits in New ‘Whiplash’ Trailer

Of the two leads, “Teller, who greatly impressed in last year’s Sundance entry The Spectacular Now , does so again in a performance that is more often simmering than volatile,” and “for his part, Simmons has the great good fortune for a character actor to have here found a co-lead part he can really run with, which is what he excitingly does with a man who is profane, way out of bounds and, like many a good villain, utterly compelling. That said, the character is only taken so far in the writing; from Iago onward, there is often a latent or frustrated sexual impulse behind such malignant behavior, as Fletcher indulges in here, but none such is suggested, nor is any private life indicated at all.”

The New York Times’ A. O. Scott says the film “could easily have been a sports movie, and structurally, it resembles one,” but “for all its dexterity and assurance, the movie has its share of false notes and rhythmic stumbles. The contrast between Fletcher and Andrew’s father, who long ago gave up his dreams of literary glory to become a teacher, is drawn a little too emphatically, as if nice guy and artist were completely antithetical. A few plot twists test the limits of credibility. And there is something a little dispiriting — if sadly unsurprising — about the way Chazelle turns a historically African-American art form into the existential arena for a couple of white guys.

“Still, the battle of master and disciple is exciting and terrifying to witness, and, at its best, the film can feel as wild and spontaneous, as risky and precise, as a live jam session. The music … is potent and pungent.”

Los Angeles Times’ Betsy Sharkey  calls it “a movie you feel as much as you see, and what you see is both exquisite and excruciating. … It is one of those scorching films that burns through emotions, uses up actors, wrings out audiences. And the jazz, well, it has its own moments of brutal, breathtaking fusion.” Simmons “has never been better” as he “can move from punisher to benefactor, grimace morphing into approving smile in a heartbeat,” and Teller “fights his way into the actor he is meant to be,” and “treats Whiplash  like a proving ground. … Long weeks of practice paid off with a riveting performance. You believe he felt every sweat-soaked moment, that the bloody hand torn by the sticks, plunging into the ice, was reality, not effects.”

Watch more   ‘Whiplash’ Star Miles Teller on Filming Intense Drum Scenes

USA Today’s Claudia Puig gives it four out of four stars, noting it as an “exhilarating, inventive and suspenseful story [that] hinges on a pair of commanding performances.” Simmons gives “a consummate Oscar-worthy portrayal,” and the film altogether “may be the year’s most suspenseful film. From start to finish it plays out like the tensest of thrillers. … The kinetic quality of this enthralling psychological drama is enhanced by evocative close-ups and stunning cinematography.”

The Guardian’s Henry Barnes notes, “It’s rare to see a film about music that professes its love for the music and its characters equally. Whiplash shows a director besotted with the precision of jazz (represented by Fletcher) and the raw ecstasy of a talent unleashed (Andrew). The two sides play together, while Chazelle hammers out a new beat for the genre to move to.”

Email: [email protected] Twitter: @cashleelee

Related Stories

Note perfect: the 15 best portrayals of musicians in movies, brandon brito headshot - p 2012, thr newsletters.

Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day

More from The Hollywood Reporter

Billie eilish reveals new album won’t have singles, jonathan majors sentenced to 52-week domestic violence intervention program, morgan wallen arrested on suspicion of reckless endangerment in nashville, missy elliott to launch first-ever headlining tour this summer, cmt music awards: jelly roll tops country music honors with three wins, sammy hagar, brooks & dunn, lainey wilson pay tribute to toby keith at cmt music awards.

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Trouble logging in?

By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.

Email not verified

Let's keep in touch.

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

• Upcoming Movies and TV shows
• Trivia & Rotten Tomatoes Podcast
• Media News + More

By clicking "Sign Me Up," you are agreeing to receive occasional emails and communications from Fandango Media (Fandango, Vudu, and Rotten Tomatoes) and consenting to Fandango's Privacy Policy and Terms and Policies . Please allow 10 business days for your account to reflect your preferences.

OK, got it!

Movies / TV

No results found.

• What's the Tomatometer®?
• Login/signup

Movies in theaters

• Opening this week
• Top box office
• Coming soon to theaters
• Certified fresh movies

Movies at home

• Netflix streaming
• Prime Video
• Most popular streaming movies
• What to Watch New

Certified fresh picks

• Monkey Man Link to Monkey Man
• The First Omen Link to The First Omen
• The Beast Link to The Beast

New TV Tonight

• Chucky: Season 3
• Mr Bates vs The Post Office: Season 1
• Fallout: Season 1
• Franklin: Season 1
• Dora: Season 1
• Good Times: Season 1
• Beacon 23: Season 2

Most Popular TV on RT

• Ripley: Season 1
• Sugar: Season 1
• 3 Body Problem: Season 1
• A Gentleman in Moscow: Season 1
• Parasyte: The Grey: Season 1
• Shōgun: Season 1
• We Were the Lucky Ones: Season 1
• The Gentlemen: Season 1
• Palm Royale: Season 1
• Best TV Shows
• Most Popular TV
• TV & Streaming News

Certified fresh pick

• Ripley Link to Ripley
• All-Time Lists
• Binge Guide
• Comics on TV
• Five Favorite Films
• Video Interviews
• Weekend Box Office
• Weekly Ketchup
• What to Watch

Box Office 2024: Top 10 Movies of the Year

100 Best Free Movies on YouTube (April 2024)

What to Watch: In Theaters and On Streaming

Awards Tour

TV Premiere Dates 2024

New Movies & TV Shows Streaming in April 2024: What To Watch on Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, and More

• Trending on RT
• Play Movie Trivia

2014, Drama/Music, 1h 46m

What to know

Critics Consensus

Intense, inspiring, and well-acted, Whiplash is a brilliant sophomore effort from director Damien Chazelle and a riveting vehicle for stars J.K. Simmons and Miles Teller. Read critic reviews

You might also like

Where to watch whiplash.

Watch Whiplash with a subscription on Netflix, rent on Prime Video, Vudu, Apple TV, or buy on Prime Video, Vudu, Apple TV.

Rate And Review

Super Reviewer

Rate this movie

Oof, that was Rotten.

Meh, it passed the time.

It’s good – I’d recommend it.

So Fresh: Absolute Must See!

What did you think of the movie? (optional)

You're almost there! Just confirm how you got your ticket.

Step 2 of 2

How did you buy your ticket?

Let's get your review verified..

AMCTheatres.com or AMC App New

Cinemark Coming Soon

We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.

Regal Coming Soon

Theater box office or somewhere else

By opting to have your ticket verified for this movie, you are allowing us to check the email address associated with your Rotten Tomatoes account against an email address associated with a Fandango ticket purchase for the same movie.

You're almost there! Just confirm how you got your ticket.

Whiplash   photos.

Andrew Neiman (Miles Teller) is an ambitious young jazz drummer, in pursuit of rising to the top of his elite music conservatory. Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons), an instructor known for his terrifying teaching methods, discovers Andrew and transfers the aspiring drummer into the top jazz ensemble, forever changing the young man's life. But Andrew's passion to achieve perfection quickly spirals into obsession, as his ruthless teacher pushes him to the brink of his ability and his sanity.

Rating: R (Strong Language|Some Sexual References)

Genre: Drama, Music

Original Language: English

Director: Damien Chazelle

Producer: Helen Estabrook , Jason Blum , Michel Litvak , David Lancaster

Writer: Damien Chazelle

Release Date (Theaters): Oct 10, 2014  limited

Release Date (Streaming): Sep 8, 2016

Box Office (Gross USA): $13.2M

Runtime: 1h 46m

Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics

Production Co: Blumhouse, Bold Films, Right of Way Films

Sound Mix: Datasat, SDDS, Dolby Digital

Cast & Crew

Miles Teller

J.K. Simmons

Terence Fletcher

Melissa Benoist

Paul Reiser

Austin Stowell

Dorm Neighbor

Damon Gupton

Chris Mulkey

Uncle Frank

Suanne Spoke

Charlie Ian

Damien Chazelle

Screenwriter

Helen Estabrook

Michel Litvak

David Lancaster

Jason Reitman

Executive Producer

Couper Samuelson

Gary Michael Walters

Sharone Meir

Cinematographer

Film Editing

Justin Hurwitz

Original Music

Melanie Jones

Production Design

Hunter Brown

Art Director

Karuna Karmarkar

Set Decoration

Lisa Norcia

Costume Design

Terri Taylor

News & Interviews for Whiplash

New on Prime Video and Freevee in September 2022

J.K. Simmons’ Five Favorite Films

Definitive Jazz Movies

Critic Reviews for Whiplash

Audience reviews for whiplash.

Bolstered by magnetic performances by Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons, Whiplash is a dark, intense, and most of all thought provoking look into the idea of greatness. The dazzling editing allows the music to flow through the scenes like butter, allowing for one of the best finales in recent film history.

The sadistic teaching methods of a jazz ensemble conductor are cut like an action movie, which makes this very entertaining even for people with little interest in this kind of music. Simmons is fantastic in his role and rules every scene he is in. The only problem is: our "hero" is kind of an asshole, too.

This movie is one of the movie that left me speechless. Brilliant performace from J. K. Simmons. Miles Teller is great too. I honestly did not want this movie to end.

Whiplash reminds audiences that a powerful drama requires little more than two titanic performances on a simple set. JK Simmons delivers the performance of his lifetime by channeling all of the menace of his HBO roots. The directorial work is also topnotch and technically outstanding. Captivating long shots and masterfully executed camera work draws the audience into this brilliant study into obsession. The movie maintains a nearly relentless pace throughout without losing an ounce of its allure. A simply breathtaking study in how carefully chosen scenes and razor sharp dialogue can do true justice to a film's message and theme. A must see movie and a true classic in the making.

Movie & TV guides

Play Daily Tomato Movie Trivia

Discover What to Watch

Rotten Tomatoes Podcasts

Whiplash (2014)

• User Reviews

Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews

• User Ratings
• External Reviews
• Metacritic Reviews
• Full Cast and Crew
• Release Dates
• Official Sites
• Company Credits
• Filming & Production
• Technical Specs
• Plot Summary
• Plot Keywords
• Parents Guide

Did You Know?

• Crazy Credits
• Alternate Versions
• Connections
• Soundtracks

Photo & Video

• Photo Gallery
• Trailers and Videos

Related Items

• External Sites

Related lists from IMDb users

Recently Viewed

'Whiplash' Is Actually a Horror Movie in One Major Way

• Whiplash , while not explicitly a horror film, creates a sense of psychological dread by exploring the traumas and fears of aspiring artists.
• J.K. Simmons' portrayal of Terence Fletcher, an abusive and demanding music conductor, positions him as every artist's worst nightmare and highlights the harsh realities of the art and music industry.
• The film taps into the underlying fear and dread that artists experience, such as the pressure for perfection and the constant threat of failure, making it a psychological horror that resonates with those in creative fields.

The greatest strength of the horror film genre is its ability to explore the universal and primal emotion of fear in a multitude of different ways. Unlike comedies and romance films that embrace the recognizable experiences of laughter and love through readily identifiable storytelling techniques, the horror genre’s vast scope allows it to not only explore what scares us and why, but to create a sense of hair-raising dread in just about anything. Even things as simple as a rubber tire or a children's story can become terrifying devices in the right hands. For many, the best horror stories are the ones that grant their audience a new perspective and insight into something that offers more to dread than what is initially seen on the surface. Enter director Damien Chazelle ’s Academy Award-winning 2014 drama. Whiplash .

While Chazelle’s later directorial efforts like La La Land and Babylon favored either the romantic glitz and glamor of show business or a cynical vision of the industry at large, Whiplash took an unapologetic, anxiety-inducing look at the world of aspiring artists and what it is that drives them. Although not outright billed as a horror film, Whiplash excels at creating a sense of psychological dread by hitting all the right traumas, insecurities, and fears that keep many aspiring artists up at night.

A promising young drummer enrolls at a cut-throat music conservatory where his dreams of greatness are mentored by an instructor who will stop at nothing to realize a student's potential.

Release Date 2014-10-10

Director Damien Chazelle

Cast Nate Lang, Melissa Benoist, Miles Teller, Austin Stowell, J.K. Simmons, Paul Reiser

Runtime 105

Main Genre Drama

In 'Whiplash,' Fletcher is Every Music Student's Living Nightmare

Much like any slasher film or Alfred Hitchcock thriller, Whiplash 's overlaying sense of dread is rooted in the tension and fear surrounding a personified singular threat. In this case, it is J.K. Simmons ' Oscar-winning performance as Terence Fletcher, the overzealous music conductor of the studio jazz band at the prestigious Shaffer Conservatory. Our protagonist, the young Andrew Neiman ( Miles Teller ) finds himself at the center of Fletcher's attention as an aspiring concert drummer. An overly demanding perfectionist and outright emotional abuser, Fletcher curses out his students, threatens them with violence, and even drives one of his former proteges to suicide . His overbearing presence and near-psychotic pursuit of technical musical proficiency are felt in every scene of the film, as Andrew and his fellow musicians’ lives are contorted to meet the expectations of their manic maestro. Simmons’ commanding and ruthless demeanor shakes the spirits and draws literal blood from his students.

In Whiplash , Fletcher is positioned as every young artist's greatest monster and represents a hard truism about the culture of art and music. His expectations as a conductor make him as feared by his students as notorious killers Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers are by their respective victims, and his inhuman detachment from the musicians in his band renders him a cruel force of nature to be feared. However, the film illustrates that Fletcher’s methods, while ruthless, are informed by how he views life in the arts. Fletcher is one of those characters whose actions and motives are understandable, but far from excusable. He pushes for perfection and excellence from his students and meets anything less than that with harsh contempt and hatred. While depicted as an overtly reprehensible character, Fletcher's insistence on perfection rings true to the world of professional artists.

J.K. Simmons is 'Whiplash's Movie Monster

The scene with Andrew and Fletcher at the bar, set months after the two of them have reached their boiling point as abuser and victim, grants insight into why Fletcher knowingly makes himself a monster to his students . He cites his philosophy that “there are no two words in the English language more harmful than ‘good job’” as his reason for pushing those under his tutelage so hard. This paints him as someone who knows that the world, and specifically the art world, is unkind to complacency and that he must push his students to do their absolute best in order to achieve the career they want —even to the point of near destruction. This does not make his methods right, but it does show that he is determined to help his students by any means possible.

To make it professionally in a competitive and creative field like music, the drive for perfection is what many artists view as the dominant force of their careers. Fletcher embodies the determination to do more than what is expected and believes that being “good enough” is never good enough. Aspiring musicians and artists often struggle with waning confidence and the belief that they are inadequate, and Fletcher attacks this weakness, which is both what makes him so scary and what makes his students successful. Fletcher's teaching methods in Whiplash are a dramatization of the experience of many career-oriented artists, which both petrifies and encourages growth. The culture of show business asks only for perfection, which is daunting for those just starting out and wanting to make it. Fletcher represents the anxiety and fear of never achieving excellence , making him a chilling villain and terrifying presence.

'Whiplash' Is a Psychological Horror Film for Aspiring Artists

As a psychological horror film, Whiplash greatly succeeds by tapping into a sense of dread and underlying fear that all artists live with —the expectations for excellence and the threat of failure. Fletcher’s adrenaline-inducing presence as an authority that decides whose talent is worth his time mirrors the demanding reality of working in a competitively artistic field. The fear of not being good enough and falling between the cracks into obscurity is scarier to devoted artists than any bloodthirsty monster or vengeful ghost. The film’s final scene, where Andrew finally earns Fletcher’s praise after all that he had put him through, ironically demonstrates the contradictory nature of artists and their career culture. The very industry that many artists are eager to join and please is the same industry that will chew them up and spit them out on a whim. Whiplash knows that the only greater fear for an artist than failure is the daunting path they will have to take in order to achieve success.

Cinephile Corner

Movie Reviews, Rankings, Film News and More

Whiplash Movie Review: A Timeless Warning for Where Damien Chazelle Is Heading

Review: Damien Chazelle’s jazzy powder keg never loses sight of the finish line. Boiling with camera flourishes and hazy sets, Chazelle announces himself with Whiplash as either cinema’s savior or antichrist.

I imagine sometimes it’s just a matter of the right film hitting you at the right time. As a young lad interested in a minute portion of the film medium, I attached myself to Damien Chazelle’s debut film Whiplash and never looked back. Some may say it’s a core text for the eventual style and storytelling conventions that I now gravitate towards quite frequently. Or maybe I find myself relating to the Miles Teller character a bit too much in my daily life. Whatever it may be, Whiplash is a seminal moment for both myself and film industry.

It’s rare to see a rather unknown filmmaker announce themselves onto the scene in the manner that Damien Chazelle did when Whiplash debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in 2014. In a way, Whiplash feels both very Sundance and completely against the norms of what that festival typically champions. On one hand, it piggybacks on the name recognition of J.K. Simmons and Miles Teller (even if Miles Teller wasn’t the Miles Teller post- Top Gun that we know him as today). 

On the other hand, it’s deeply unnerving and insular. Typically, the festival promotes films closer to CODA or The Last Black Man in San Francisco – films with an airier tone and bright color schemes. Whiplash offers little beyond dimly lit, hazy rooms that add to the depressing atmosphere Chazelle seems to let his dialogue live in. He bets heavily on tone in Whiplash with hopes that the abrasive characterization and an aggressive script can win over audiences.

And Whiplash unquestionably does just that. The film sinks into its script from the opening minutes with a career-defining villainous performance by J.K. Simmons. The adrenalin runs through your veins beginning with the brief drum sesh between Simmons’ drill sergeant-adjacent band director Terence Fletcher and Miles Teller’s puppy-eyed Andrew Neiman. Chazelle sets the stage early on for a lightning quick, hair raising dual between two forceful characters in the world of jazz music – one that Chazelle clearly feels confident in and continues to work in.

If there’s one feeling that Whiplash exudes at every turn, it’s confidence. The film feels like a director working well into their career, with a handful of successes and flops alike. One that announces someone has reentered their prime. It’s not a film that feels at the hands of a newcomer. It’s as if the self-proclaiming prodigy that enters the Shaffer Conservatory Studio in the film’s opening minutes is a stand-in for Chazelle himself – an indulging, overly self-confident artist capable of shattering boundaries if cooler heads prevail.

Reviews for Movies like Whiplash

Whiplash has ferocious energy that other films dream of having, and sometimes artificially try to build and land flat for. Sometimes, it’s just a matter of having perfect casting for the roles most important. At times, it feels like the whole film was written around J.K. Simmons as a performer. Simmons wins his Oscar for the film, and essentially builds a plethora of nominations off it, too. When pundits carried pitchforks around last year for his nomination in Being the Ricardos , I understood the harsh criticisms they had. After all, the film is simply not very good – but Simmons still holds the screen presence because of the performance he gives in Whiplash . People will always be excited to see him on screen because he was Terence Fletcher.

Few films feel well ahead of their time but also get their accolades in the moment. Whiplash is a launching point for everyone involved. Miles Teller delivers the peaks and valleys for a character arch presented as a good ole fashion rise-and-fall (even if the rise isn’t that monumental and the bottom doesn’t completely cave in on him). I wrote this review initially for the release of Babylon and now critics will say the jury is out on Chazelle, too. Understandably so. Chazelle isn’t one to hold back. Whiplash should’ve been a warning for the weirder, directionless career that one of the industry’s brightest youngsters was about to go on.

For years to come, Whiplash will continuously be reexamined and reappraised for how it exponentially multiplies tension and energy. Few visionaries are able to pull together this level of craft after decades in the business, yet Damien Chazelle was able to do it after a few short films and with a minimal budget. J.K. Simmons is the standout here, mainly because he gets his Oscar and years of future accolades, but Miles Teller also manages to string together a few solid performances after this film, too.

There’s a timeless quality to Whiplash that will keep it in the culture for years to come. It helps that Chazelle keeps getting bolder and bolder with his visions, and no one should be surprised after the volatile trip he takes you on in this one. Whether he crashes and burns like his characters here, or he soars like his protagonists in La La Land or First Man (literally), his films will be stand-ins for the medium’s zeitgeists many decades from now.

Genre: Drama

Where to watch Whiplash: Hulu, VOD

Join our newsletter

Whiplash Film Cast and Credits

Miles Teller as Andrew Neiman

J.K. Simmons as Terence Fletcher

Paul Reiser as Jim Neiman

Melissa Benoist as Nicole

Austin Stowell as Ryan Connolly

Director: Damien Chazelle

Writer: Damien Chazelle

Cinematography: Sharone Meir

Editor: Tom Cross

Composer: Justin Hurwitz

Movie Reviews

New Movies Classics Best New Movies All Reviews

About Us Newsletter Sign Up

Lists and Rankings

Director Rankings Best Movies of 2023 Best Movies of 2022 Best Movies of 2021 All Lists

Latest News Essays

Movie Genres

Action Adventure Animation Comedy Crime Documentary Drama Family History Holiday

Genres (cont.)

Horror Musical Mystery Romance Sci-Fi Sports Superhero Thriller War Western

Copyright © 2024 Cinephile Corner

Design by ThemesDNA.com

Find anything you save across the site in your account

Getting Jazz Right in the Movies

By Richard Brody

Movies about musicians offer musical approximations that usually satisfy in inverse proportion to a viewer’s devotion to the actual music behind the story. Few, if any, fictionalized musicians are played onscreen by real-life musicians of their calibre. (Dexter Gordon, in “’Round Midnight,” is perhaps the best;  Jackie McLean  and Freddie Redd, in “The Connection,” don’t do as much acting, but their music is brilliant.) Most good music in movies is played by musicians playing themselves, whether it’s Little Richard in “The Girl Can’t Help It,” Louis Armstrong and Lionel Hampton in “A Song Is Born,” the Rolling Stones in “Sympathy for the Devil,” or Artur Rubinstein in “ Carnegie Hall .” Yet I’m not bothered by musical approximations and allusions in dramas, as long as the drama itself has the spirit of music. The mediocre jazz in Damien Chazelle’s new film, “Whiplash,” the story (set in the present day) of a young drummer (Miles Teller) under the brutal tutelage of a conservatory professor (J. K. Simmons), isn’t itself a problem. The problem is with the underlying idea. The movie’s very idea of jazz is a grotesque and ludicrous caricature.

Teller is a terrific actor, and he does a creditable job of playing the protagonist, Andrew Neiman, who’s nineteen and idolizes Buddy Rich. (Buddy Rich? A loud and insensitive technical whiz, a TV personality, not a major jazz inspiration. As I heard his name in the film, I spoke it in my head as dubiously as Leonardo DiCaprio says “ Benihana ” in “The Wolf of Wall Street.”) Teller is a student at New York’s fictional Shaffer Conservatory, where he catches the attention of Terence Fletcher (Simmons), the authoritarian leader of the school’s concert band and an ostensible career maker. The core of the movie is the emotional and physical brutality that Fletcher metes out to Andrew, in the interest (he claims) of driving him out of self-satisfaction and into hard work. Fletcher levels an ethnic slur at Andrew, who’s Jewish; he insults his father, smacks him in the face repeatedly to teach him rhythm, hazes him with petty rules that are meant to teach military-style obedience rather than musical intelligence.

Fletcher justifies his behavior with repeated reference to a long-repeated anecdote about Charlie Parker, who, while still an unknown youth, was playing a solo at a jam session with professionals—one of whom was the great drummer Jo Jones, of the Count Basie Orchestra, more or less the inventor of classic jazz drumming, and even of the four-four glide that persists as the music’s essential pulse. In Fletcher’s telling, Parker played so badly that Jones threw a cymbal at his head, nearly decapitating him. After that humiliation and intimidation, Parker went home and practiced so long and so hard that he came back a year later and made history with his solo.

Here’s the real story, as related in Stanley Crouch’s recent biography of Parker, “Kansas City Lightning.” Crouch spoke with the bassist Gene Ramey, who was there. It happened in 1936, and Parker (whose nickname was Bird) was sixteen:

“Bird had gotten up there and got his meter turned around,” Ramey remembered. “When they got to the end of the thirty-two-bar chorus, he was in the second bar on that next chorus. Somehow or other he got ahead of himself or something. He had the right meter. He was with the groove all right, but he was probably anxious to make it. Anyway, he couldn’t get off. Jo Jones hit the bell corners— ding . Bird kept playing.  Ding. Ding . Everybody was looking, and people were starting to say, ‘Get this cat off of here.’  Ding!  So finally, finally, Jo Jones pulled off the cymbal and said  ‘DING’ _ _on the floor. Some would call it a crash, and they were right, a  DING  trying to pass itself as under a crash. Bird jumped, you know, and it startled him and he eased out of the solo. Everybody was screaming and laughing. The whole place.

Not attempted murder but rather musical snark; a humiliation but not an oppression. (By the way, Crouch himself has been a professional musician, an excellent drummer in the free-jazz manner—I had the pleasure of seeing him perform around 1976. His book joins an extraordinary depth of research and a profound understanding of the inner life of the music with a vivid depiction of life in Kansas City in the nineteen-thirties.)

Crouch adds that, at around this same time, Parker “had a breakthrough,” a musical epiphany that resulted from listening to the solos of the Kansas City-based tenor saxophonist Lester Young (who, later in 1936, joined Basie’s band). Parker found a steady gig with a local band, with whom he performed onstage for many hours every night. Crouch writes that Parker also got serious about music, studying harmony at the piano and spending lots of time listening to other musicians on the radio, including the trumpeter Roy Eldridge and the alto saxophonist Buster Smith. And, yes, Parker did play a historic solo a year later. He showed up at another jam session, in 1937, and, as the trumpeter Oliver Todd told Crouch, “Before the thing was over, all the guys that had rejected him were sitting down with their mouths wide open. I had seen a miracle. I really had. It was something that made tears come down my face.”

Here’s what Parker didn’t do in the intervening year: sit alone in his room and work on making his fingers go faster. He played music, thought music, lived music. In “Whiplash,” the young musicians don’t play much music. Andrew isn’t in a band or a combo, doesn’t get together with his fellow-students and jam—not in a park, not in a subway station, not in a café, not even in a basement. He doesn’t study music theory, not alone and not (as Parker did) with his peers. There’s no obsessive comparing of recordings and styles, no sense of a wide-ranging appreciation of jazz history—no Elvin Jones, no Tony Williams, no Max Roach, no Ed Blackwell. In short, the musician’s life is about pure competitive ambition—the concert band and the exposure it provides—and nothing else. The movie has no music in its soul—and, for that matter, it has no music in its images. There are ways of filming music that are themselves musical, that conjure a musical feeling above and beyond what’s on the soundtrack, but Chazelle’s images are nothing of the kind.

To justify his methods, Fletcher tells Andrew that the worst thing you can tell a young artist is “Good job,” because self-satisfaction and complacency are the enemies of artistic progress. It’s the moment where Chazelle gives the diabolical character his due, and it’s utter, despicable nonsense. There’s nothing wrong with “Good job,” because a real artist won’t be gulled or lulled into self-satisfaction by it: real artists are hard on themselves, curious to learn what they don’t know and to push themselves ahead. No artist can find what isn’t already there within; he can only develop it. What’s most memorable about John Ridley’s “Jimi: All Is by My Side” is André 3000’s portrayal of Hendrix as a man with a secret—not an unpleasant personal secret but a sense of constant wonder arising from within, apart from and prior to any actual musical performance that realizes it. That’s how Clint Eastwood has Forest Whitaker portray Parker in “ Bird ”; that’s how Anthony Mann has James Stewart play the title role in “ The Glenn Miller Story .” That’s even what John Cassavetes did with Bobby Darin in Cassavetes’s early, studio-produced film “ Too Late Blues ” (Darin plays a fictional jazz pianist).

But those performances of musicians with a secret are made possible by scripts that don’t rely on index-card psychology, as “Whiplash” does. Certainly, the movie isn’t “about” jazz; it’s “about” abuse of power. Fletcher could as easily be demanding sex or extorting money as hurling epithets and administering smacks. Yet Chazelle seems to suggest that Fletcher, for all his likely criminal cruelty, has nonetheless forced Andrew to take responsibility for himself, to make decisions on his own, to prove himself even by rebelling against Fletcher’s authority. There’s nothing in the film to indicate that Andrew has any originality in his music. What he has, and what he ultimately expresses, is chutzpah. That may be very helpful in readying Andrew for a job on television. “Whiplash” honors neither jazz nor cinema; it’s a work of petty didacticism that shows off petty mastery, and it feeds the sort of minor celebrity that Andrew aspires to. Buddy Rich. Buddy fucking Rich.

By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Was Whiplash Realistic? That Depends On Who You Ask

Damien Chazelle's second feature film, "Whiplash" is an intense and sometimes horrifying look at what it takes to strive for utter perfection. The film, which premiered at Sundance in 2014, was praised for its sharp direction and performances, specifically from J.K. Simmons, who would go on to win the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his turn as Terence Fletcher, the twisted instructor to Miles Teller's Andrew Neiman. The film explores the darker side of fueling your passions, showing a detailed look at Andrew's relationship with his abusive instructor.

The cutthroat world of "Whiplash" introduced viewers to may seem far-fetched, as some of the depictions of higher music education and practice could be seen as over the top. The film's ending, in particular, stands out as one of the more disturbing parts of the film, coming off as a tragic ending showing complacency with abuse and the cost of perfectionism. However, when Damien Chazelle was making the film, the director received interesting feedback from people who were both familiar and unfamiliar with the musical world on which "Whiplash" was based. Although some of "Whiplash" was based on Chazelle's experiences as a young drummer vying for a spot in an orchestral band, the film's accuracy depends on who you ask.

Divergent reactions

In a 2014 interview with Interview Magazine , Damien Chazelle talked about how his real-life experiences helped to shape "Whiplash." The director was part of a competitive band in high school, giving him something to help ground the themes of perfectionism in reality. When making the movie, Chazelle recalled two different kinds of reactions he would get from those who read the script; those who weren't familiar with the life of a musician and those who were:

"When we were initially putting the movie together, there were divergent reactions. We would send the script to someone who wasn't a musician, and they would be horrified by the behavior. Then we sent it to one of the jazz drummers at Lincoln Center, and his reaction was, 'Well, yeah. That's what it takes.'"

How realistic "Whiplash" is could still be considered up for debate. Scenes such as Andrew crashing his car and still attempting to show up to a performance to play the drums despite being seriously injured can seem too frightening to be accurate. Still, it all depends on the personal experience of those involved. In the case of Damien Chazelle , the director's personal experiences with drumming would help him understand the obsession that comes with trying to be the best.

Using personal experience to tell a story

In the same interview, Chazelle elaborated on his experiences with being a drummer and how what started as something as a pastime turned into a severe endeavor for perfection:

"I actually grew up wanting to be a filmmaker. I wanted to make movies, and music was a detour, almost. I was in this public high school in Princeton with this top-notch jazz program — if you were a musician of any caliber, your holy grail was to be in that orchestra ... It was the top program of its kind in the country at the time. So I practiced and drumming, which initially had just been a whatever hobby, quickly became a total lifestyle, a total obsession, total terror."

At the end of the day, "Whiplash" and its accuracy in portraying obsessive behavior and toxic relationships depend on the viewer's experiences. To Chazelle and others who have been a musician, the horror that perfection can turn into feels all too real, and it's Chazelle's experiences that fueled him to tell the story of "Whiplash." The movie's accuracy is all about who you ask. Even to those not involved in music, other professions can dangerously lead to obsession. If anything, "Whiplash" can serve as a cautionary tale to anyone passionate about something and the potentially dark paths that passion can lead you onto. 

• International edition
• Australia edition
• Europe edition

Whiplash review – the Full Metal Jacket of jazz drumming

JK Simmons is thrillingly brutal as a pop-eyed drum teacher – but does this very watchable classroom drama have anything deep to impart? JK Simmons on Whiplash: ‘The whole macho thing never goes away’ How Whiplash kills the cheesy pupil-mentor genre stone-dead

I f Facebook’s Marc Zuckerberg took jazz drumming lessons from Dr Hannibal Lecter, the result might look like this. That’s the Dr Lecter, incidentally, who kills and eats a flautist in the Baltimore Philharmonic Orchestra for being out of tune.

Whiplash is a study in the misery and cruelty that’s always involved in teaching a musical instrument at the highest level: it’s outrageously watchable, very well acted, slightly preposterous, and nowhere near as desperately important as it thinks it is. Watching this film is like listening to a very extended, bravura jazz drum solo. You marvel at the flash, the crash, the technique – and finally wonder where exactly it is all going, and when and how it is going to end. Where does a teacher’s inspirational discipline and provocation cross the line into abuse? There is some thrilling classroom brutality and operatic dysfunction, though Whiplash perhaps jazz-drums itself into a bit of a corner. For me, it revived (happy) memories of testy Mr Shorofsky and frizzy-haired Bruno Martelli in Fame.

At the film’s centre is Mr Fletcher, a terrifying jazz teacher at a top New York academy; he is also the conductor of an elite student band, whose competition recitals are attended by the top talent scouts. Fletcher insists on the highest standards, and woe betide any student who lets him down by so much as a millimetre: he will berate and humiliate such a person like the drill sergeant in Full Metal Jacket. Fletcher is played with bullish, pop-eyed belligerence by JK Simmons , wearing black jeans and black T-shirt of a style that was cool for youngsters in Fletcher’s own distant youth: weirdly, he looks like an ageing version of the gay teen hipster in Clueless. Writer-director Damien Chazelle shows how Fletcher’s music and his attitude embody from the outset a fundamental dissonance. You might think that jazz is all about freedom, relaxation and letting it all hang out. But oh no. Jazz is taught here with the same uncompromising formal severity as Bach, and Fletcher looks quite as messed up as Isabelle Huppert’s imperious Erika in Haneke’s The Piano Teacher.

He meets his match, or possibly his ideal pupil, in the form of Andrew, a would-be jazz drummer played with self-possession and flair by Miles Teller. Andrew has a closed, unresponsive expression, as if his whole being has been swallowed inward in concentration and absorption. He has an intense dedication to nurturing his own world-beating talent and status, which makes him emotionally vulnerable to attack. The film’s very first scene shows him hammering out a solo and something in it catches the ear of Fletcher, who capriciously interrupts this practice and instantly starts playing mind games with Andrew. His pupil-victim now has to master Hank Levy’s complex piece Whiplash, with its freaky 7/4 and 14/8 time signatures: the title acquires an awful additional significance. It is for him what Rachmaninoff’s third piano concerto was for David Helfgott. And all the time Fletcher challenges him, needles him, sets him up, knocks him down. Pushed to breaking point, Andrew never knows what to do. Is it a test? Should he defy him? Obey him? Which would win his respect?

JK Simmons is brilliant at Fletcher’s scariest rehearsal mannerism: demanding that an errant pupil stop playing immediately by raising his hand and clenching his fist, like a Roman emperor signalling for someone to be decapitated. The film’s nastiest scene has him doing just this because a student is playing out of tune: a misdemeanour punished in the most appalling and arbitrary way. He looks like he has everyone’s balls in his fist, and this is a very alpha-male drama, with just one female musician visible, casually and offensively accused of owing her position in the band to being cute. As for Andrew, he has other people in his life: his dad (Paul Reiser) and Nicole (Melissa Benoist), a girl at a neighbouring college that he asks out on a tentative date. But these relationships are entirely subordinate to his quasi-father and quasi-seducer: Fletcher.

We are entitled to wonder if Fletcher is supposed to be an out-and-out villain, but also if that ambivalence is intentional. Is Whiplash taking us on a narrative journey basically similar to that of Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada? Well, Chazelle naturally allows you to suspect this, with dark revelations muted in the interests of keeping alive the positive dimension. There is arguably an unintended mismatch between the positive and negative interpretations of Fletcher’s behaviour, although also something heroic in the film’s final apparent attempt to resolve this tension musically. Concussion merges with percussion. It’s a film with impact.

JK Simmons on Whiplash: ‘The whole macho thing never goes away’

• Peter Bradshaw's film of the week
• Drama films

Comments (…)

Most viewed.

Film Police Reviews

A Philippine-based film site, featuring news, essays, interviews, and the leading PH film podcast, Third World Cinema Club.

In entire effect Whiplash gives its title more than justice. In lacerating cymbals, dripping crimson and flying sweat, the film champions an intriguingly unhinged sense of primality–the final scene alone is worth your admission!–that claws deep within the heart and soul.

Whiplash is a reconfirmation of Chazelle’s distinctive preoccupations and the refinement of his said exuberance; aptly, he begins and ends  his film with a drum solo. On the kit is Andrew Neyman (Miles Teller), a first-year student whose ambitions are equal parts exacting and treacherous. In-between the pursuit and ultimate reaching of his Greatness, he bleeds in almost every sense of the word. He goes out and finds himself a girlfriend (Melissa Benoist), a habit which he later drops because he simply could not afford. He endures blisters and curses, all direct and by extension inflicted by his conductor/mentor Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons). Fletcher eyes the Buddy Rich-wannabe’s potential and pushes him beyond the limitations of control. But then insanity is two-pronged, so Fletcher, naturally, clad completely in black like a phantom or a ghoul, has to push Andrew miles and miles further.

It is a torturous process and Chazelle is a terrific storyteller in that throughout his film there are moments in which you foresee Neyman losing it–for so much that you are certain–but then you are proved wrong. Because Neyman is indeed One of the Greats. Remember: he is the son plagued by his father’s mediocrity–a failed writer-turned-high school teacher and polite cinema patron. He will not settle.

Teller is terrific in translating such fortitude and vulnerability; and Simmons spectacular in Fletcher’s glumness and cunning. This warfare between them makes an unforgettable sports film out of an apprentice and mentor’s fray before sheet-music.

Call it whatever you want: “Full Metal Drumkit” or “Black Jazz” or any name that you have come up with. Whiplash is a different beast because it is less about existential angst than simply the Opium of Greatness. But here the question is posed if Chazelle might be vindictive of such taskmanship so costly in terms of mentality, emotionality and physicality. Fletcher might push Neyman to the extremes, but like an educated instrumentalist he knows the right places where to tick, and the exact  moment when to tick. “There are no two words in the English language more harmful than ‘good job,’” he later explains, noting that he “pushes people beyond what is expected of them.” There is also the hint of subtle hyperrealism in how Neyman views his world: the (fictional) conservatory to which he attends is less a place to socialize with other musicians and instrumentalists, but a jungle in which you battle for your ‘part.’ The blood-spewing drumming sequences are fetishistic (albeit very well-shot) almost as if it serves as a fantastic representation of Neyman’s distress–an all-too-literal depiction of “no guts, no glory.”

So is there vindication in the film, at all, of Fletcher’s ways? I like to think that between Neyman and Fletcher, greatness is symbiosis. The cunning cue-man conducting the prodigious percussionist. It is that  simple. The final moments of Whiplash is a bracing, transporting aural experience for all who witness it. Although manipulative and deceitful (“I will never apologize for that,” he insists), Fletcher somehow imprints a connection with Andrew; he finally finds his Charlie Parker.

[columns][three-columns] Just type the words ‘online pharmacies’ getting viagra and you would be provided with hundreds of links to various international pharmacies. However, erectile issues in men are expected after a cheap tadalafil no prescription certain period, the only difference is some experience it all the time. If your erectile dysfunction is because of hormonal complications like low testosterone or diabetes, you should take Kamagra. tadalafil 20mg no prescription Some people are to busy to go see a doctor for a medication they might need and they know what they need they can get it right online. cheapest viagra tablets

Damien Chazelle / USA / 2014 Drama / 149 min. / PG Screenplay:  Damien Chazelle Cast:  Miles Teller, J.K. Simmons, Melissa Benoist..

[/three-columns]

[two-three-columns]

“Now tell me: are you a rusher, or are you a dragger?”

~Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons)

 [/two-three-columns][/columns]

[icon type=”star” size=”icon-3x” ] ESSENTIAL VIEWING [icon type=”star” size=”icon-3x” ]

Essential Viewings are films that we agree are worth seeing the first opportunity you get. These films are excellent works from excellent filmmakers, has undeniable technical merit, and challenges the overall experience of cinema.

Click here to discover more Essential Viewings .

Share this:

Leave a reply.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Notify me of new posts by email.

Discover more from Film Police Reviews

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Type your email…

Continue reading

Is Whiplash Based on a True Story?

‘ Whiplash ‘ is a 2014 psychological drama that follows an ambitious music student trying to meet his abusive instructor’s expectations. As a junior student at the New York Schaffer Conservatory, Andrew Neiman (Miles Teller) is singlemindedly focused on becoming a legendary drummer. However, in his way stands the domineering Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons) — an accomplished jazz instructor known for his harsh training methods. Just how far Terrence can push Andrew becomes the film’s tense central story arc.

Directed by Damien Chazelle, the film explores the lesser-known brutal competitive side of jazz bands. Andrew’s journey and encounter with the belligerent instructor feel quite authentic, and the narrative shows signs of being entrenched in reality. To answer this lingering question, we decided to find out whether ‘Whiplash’ is actually based on a true story or not. Here’s what we found.

Is Whiplash a True Story?

‘Whiplash’ is partially based on a true story. The film, written and directed by Damien Chazelle, draws from his experiences while attending Princeton High School. He was part of a very competitive jazz band in high school and spent a few years completely immersed in playing the drums. Though the film follows a fictional narrative, set in the make-believe Schaffer Conservatory in New York City, the director attempted to imbibe it with the dread he felt while playing in the band.

The director revealed in an interview that he wrote the script while he was going through a “frustrating” experience trying to get his musical, ‘ La La Land ‘ off the ground. After finishing the script for ‘Whiplash,’ Chazelle used 15 pages of the script to make an 18-minute short film with the same name to raise funds for the feature film. The short film was received favorably, and soon he made the feature-length version of the script. One of the film’s most notable aspects is the antagonist band instructor, Terence Fletcher, who becomes the protagonist’s main obstacle.

The director revealed that Fletcher was inspired by his harsh high school music instructor but also drew from the likes of Buddy Rich and “other famously tyrannical band leaders in jazz history.” Chazelle further described how he remembered being terrified while playing the drums in high school because of the pressure. “That was my overall emotion during those years. Just dread,” he said.” And not being able to eat meals before rehearsals and losing sleep and sweating my ass off. I wanted to pour that into the movie.”

Understandably, there are a few similarities between the director’s experiences and what Andrew goes through in the film. A particular excerpt from Chazelle’s interview reveals just how similar to the film his own life was — “…it’s a testament to how influential and intimidating my conductor was that something that beforehand had been a kind of side hobby for me became, for four years, absolutely my life and an obsession. There was nothing I thought about other than drums and tempo and studying Buddy Rich and Joe Jones. That was my entire life. It was a pretty narrowly focused life.”

Apart from drawing on the director’s experiences, the film’s protagonist gets another layer of authenticity by being essayed by a drummer. Actor Miles Teller has played the drums since his teens, and about forty percent of the soundtracks used in the movie are his own drumming. However, since he had played only rock and never underwent formal music education, he had to undergo intense training to play a convincing jazz musician, and a visual double was also used for a few shots.

Most of the characters that form the rest of the band in the film are musicians and had never been on screen before. In fact, Chazelle made it a point to catch close-ups of the band members in particularly tense scenes involving Simmons’ Terence Fletcher to get their authentic reactions to the latter’s domineering presence.

Finally, the music school seen in the film is fictional but appears to have similarities with The Juilliard School in New York. The film’s namesake track, “Whiplash,” is an actual track composed by Hank Levy and first released in a 1973 jazz album by Don Ellis. The film’s use of complex jazz tracks is part of the director’s larger vision of introducing audiences to the cutthroat and high-pressure world of big jazz bands.

Ultimately, ‘Whiplash’ is a dramatization loosely inspired by Chazelle’s own experiences and some real-life musicians (and a particular music instructor). Through the fictional story, the director attempts to depict, with possibly a hint of exaggeration (Chazelle himself was never slapped by his instructor), the pressures a budding professional musician feels. In a broader sense, the film also explores the complex relationship between ambition and abuse, reflected in the interactions between Andrew and Fletcher.

Read More:  Where Was Whiplash Filmed?

SPONSORED LINKS

• Movie Explainers
• TV Explainers
• About The Cinemaholic

Common Sense Media

Movie & TV reviews for parents

• For Parents
• For Educators
• Our Work and Impact

Or browse by category:

• Get the app
• Movie Reviews
• Best Movie Lists
• Best Movies on Netflix, Disney+, and More

Common Sense Selections for Movies

50 Modern Movies All Kids Should Watch Before They're 12

• Best TV Lists
• Best TV Shows on Netflix, Disney+, and More
• Common Sense Selections for TV
• Video Reviews of TV Shows

Best Kids' Shows on Disney+

Best Kids' TV Shows on Netflix

• Book Reviews
• Best Book Lists
• Common Sense Selections for Books

8 Tips for Getting Kids Hooked on Books

50 Books All Kids Should Read Before They're 12

• Game Reviews
• Best Game Lists

Common Sense Selections for Games

• Video Reviews of Games

Nintendo Switch Games for Family Fun

• Podcast Reviews
• Best Podcast Lists

Common Sense Selections for Podcasts

Parents' Guide to Podcasts

• App Reviews
• Best App Lists

Social Networking for Teens

Gun-Free Action Game Apps

Reviews for AI Apps and Tools

• YouTube Channel Reviews
• YouTube Kids Channels by Topic

Parents' Ultimate Guide to YouTube Kids

YouTube Kids Channels for Gamers

• Preschoolers (2-4)
• Little Kids (5-7)
• Big Kids (8-9)
• Pre-Teens (10-12)
• Teens (13+)
• Screen Time
• Social Media
• Online Safety
• Identity and Community

Explaining the News to Our Kids

• Family Tech Planners
• Digital Skills
• All Articles
• Latino Culture
• Black Voices
• Asian Stories
• Native Narratives
• LGBTQ+ Pride
• Best of Diverse Representation List

Celebrating Black History Month

Movies and TV Shows with Arab Leads

Celebrate Hip-Hop's 50th Anniversary

Common sense media reviewers.

Compelling drama about relentless pursuit of perfection.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Hard work and perseverance will get you where you

Andrew is single-minded in his pursuit of perfecti

A conductor is exacting to the point of cruelty. H

Flirting; sexual references.

Hateful homophobic language is hurled at students,

Some labels/products seen, including Samsung.

Social drinking by college students.

Parents need to know that although Whiplash is a coming-of-age movie of sorts, it's also a searing, powerful, and -- for younger viewers -- possibly disturbing portrait of a talented young man under the tutelage of a brilliant but seemingly heartless mentor. The older man is smart and almost always right…

Positive Messages

Hard work and perseverance will get you where you want to go -- just make sure you don't lose yourself along the way.

Positive Role Models

Andrew is single-minded in his pursuit of perfection. And though he veers into unhealthy territory, there's something to be said for his determination and work ethic.

Violence & Scariness

A conductor is exacting to the point of cruelty. He belittles his students, calls them names, and hurls homophobic insults. He also slaps a student repeatedly and hurls a chair at him. News of a student's suicide circulates. A drummer practices so hard that his fingers bleed all over the drums. A character gets into a horrible car accident and suffers a bloody gash and bruises.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Hateful homophobic language is hurled at students, including "f----t" and "pansy." Additional swearing abounds, including "s--t," "f--k," "bitch," "c--ksucker," "d--k," "ass," "motherf--ker," and "c--t."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Drinking, drugs & smoking.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that although Whiplash is a coming-of-age movie of sorts, it's also a searing, powerful, and -- for younger viewers -- possibly disturbing portrait of a talented young man under the tutelage of a brilliant but seemingly heartless mentor. The older man is smart and almost always right about his advice, but his tactics are brutal, from cruel name-calling (which involves tons of swearing, including "s--t," "f--k," a flurry of homophobic insults, and much more) to relentless nitpicking in his quest for perfection. Other issues to be aware of: There's a massive car accident that causes injuries, a student's suicide is mentioned, and the main character, Andrew, is so involved in his drumming that he literally draws blood. Clearly he's focused, and he works hard to achieve his goals, which is a strong example for teens -- just remind them not to lose themselves in the pursuit of perfection. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

• Parents say (30)
• Kids say (76)

Based on 30 parent reviews

This was one of the best movies I ever saw

What's the story.

In WHIPLASH, Andrew Neiman ( Miles Teller ) is a talented drummer -- talented enough to make it into Manhattan's prestigious music conservatory, Schaffer Academy. There's no bigger badge of approval at Schaffer than to be invited to join its elite jazz band, which is run by the tough and mysterious Terence Fletcher ( J.K. Simmons ). Fletcher has groomed some of jazz's best players, but pleasing him is a minefield. Fletcher's methods include -- among other, more traditional methods like pedagogy and charismatic history-sharing -- complete and utter humiliation. He's of the break-you-down-to-build-you-up (if at all) school of teaching. Andrew is thrilled to make the initial cut, but surviving Fletcher's class may break him, and his love for music, for good.

Is It Any Good?

Teller's total investment in his performance means viewers are no longer just viewers; we're also witnesses, and it's this intensity that makes writer-director Damien Chazelle's film so memorable. We pay little mind to its shortcomings: the unnecessary romance (which fails to flesh out Andrew but does expose his own cruelty) and the unfortunate impenetrability of Fletcher's (played brilliantly by Simmons) motives for his madness. Whiplash is both a refreshing, respectful ode to the beauty that is jazz music and a very compelling look at the horror that is a mentor-mentee relationship gone distressingly awry.

There's a particular scene in Whiplash when Andrew is hunched over the drums, aching to get through what may be the most important performance of his life. His hands are moving on their own steam, his body seized with tension and pain, his will driven to its limit. But he will not, he will not, he will not quit, and it's as if Teller has become his character, determined to make his mark with this movie, even if it kills him.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about why Andrew wants to work with Fletcher in Whiplash . Why do you think any of the kids yearn to be in his band when he's so hard to work with?

What's Whiplash 's take on achievement and the road to success? Is it worth all the trouble? Fletcher makes great points about being complacent, but how does he cross the line?

Talk to your kids about what to look for in a mentor or a teacher. Is it OK for teachers to use unconventional tactics to motivate students? When should you worry -- and if that happens, what should you do?

How do the characters in Whiplash demonstrate perseverance ? Why is this an important character strength ?

Movie Details

• In theaters : October 10, 2014
• On DVD or streaming : February 24, 2015
• Cast : J.K. Simmons , Miles Teller
• Director : Damien Chazelle
• Studio : Sony Pictures Classics
• Genre : Drama
• Topics : Arts and Dance
• Character Strengths : Perseverance
• Run time : 106 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : strong language including some sexual references
• Awards : Academy Award , Common Sense Selection , Golden Globe
• Last updated : November 9, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

Our editors recommend.

The Devil Wears Prada

Boiler Room

Movies about musicians, movies with inspiring teachers, related topics.

• Perseverance
• Arts and Dance

Want suggestions based on your streaming services? Get personalized recommendations

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

‘Monkey Man’ Review – Senselessly Awesome Revenge

• Share on Gab
• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Flipboard
• Share on Reddit
• Share on News Break
• Share via Email

Monkey Man tells the story of a young boy named Kid (Dev Patel) who loses everything after a corrupt police chief from Yatana named Rana Singh (Sikandar Kher) kills his mother and burns down his village — all under the direction of a spiritual guru named Baba Shakti (Makrand Deshpande).

As an adult, Kid travels to Yatana and makes a living as an illegal boxer. Rana frequents a restaurant club known as Queenie’s, so Kid gets a job there as a kitchen employee and begins his path of redemption.

Not your typical action thriller, Monkey Man is lead actor Dev Patel’s way of injecting “real soul, real trauma, and real pain” into the genre “with a little bit of culture” in his directorial debut .

The two-hour runtime divides the film into two parts. The first half is an emotional backstory for Kid and a failed attempt at revenge against Rana. Kid rises as a server at Queenie’s Club as his lust for revenge overpowers his logical thinking.

When he’s not working, Kid fights in illegal boxing clubs. He gets arrested after fighting Rana and Queenie’s and almost dies, but escapes to a transgender temple where he trains himself back to health.

The second half of the film is a raw and feral action film. Kid remembers who he is by using his past not only as motivation but also as a driving force. He battles everyone at Queenie’s, from the ground floor to the fingerprint-protected Queenie suite, where he faces off against Baba Shakti, the guru responsible for instructing Rana to burn down Kid’s village.

The cinematography of Monkey Man is both revitalizing and disorienting. There are moments when it’s incredibly creative; one notable instance being Kid running downstairs while the camera shoots the action from behind a pane of emergency glass.

But for every innovative shot, there are like a dozen infuriating ones that are both blurry and nauseating. It’s said that the film faced some budget cuts, which included utilizing GoPros and iPhones to shoot the film to save money.

The way the camera jerks around the audience, like being in a car crash without wearing a seat belt, is likely accurate. Director of Photography Sharone Meir — whose credits include The Last House on the Left , Whiplash , Rings , and Silent Night — is responsible for the film.

The actual car chase in the film features Alphonso’s (Pitobash) little vehicle dubbed Nicki Minaj (Big bumper. Nice headlights). It visually features bright lights and acceleration that aren’t easy to decipher. The sequence is filled with close-ups, camera shakes, and blindly whipping around. Patel chooses to focus on the panic and trauma rather than the chase itself. You are meant to feel what he feels.

The writing of the film is messier than the action. While Patel wrote the story, the screenplay is handled by Paul Angunawela and John Collee (the Happy Feet films, Hotel Mumbai ). Kid’s vengeful story is excruciating.

Learning what Rana did to his mother, seeing how corrupt law enforcement is in this country, witnessing the decimation of everything he loves at such a young age, and discovering why his hands are forever scarred because of his past is heartbreaking.

With that said, the rest of the writing is trash. Kid essentially becomes a serial killer murdering people with his hands and facing little consequence. He almost goes to jail, but then authorities disappear after his re-emergence.

Kid hides at Alpha’s trans temple. The concept of this is cool because the transgender aspect of the film wasn’t hinted at in the trailers, and the film introduces it in a way that isn’t insulting or force-fed. But why more murderers aren’t just going on a killing spree and hiding out here is mind-boggling.

But after Kid heals and composes himself, he goes right back to the same place and starts killing people again. This results in some massively incredible action sequences (the knife sequence in the elevator), but Monkey Man is built around a revenge-first and logic-last approach.

The film is loaded with brutal, animalistic, bloody carnage. Sharlto Copley is the perfect money-hungry sleaze as Tiger, and Jed Kurzel’s score is surprisingly stellar. Monkey Man feels like what we all wanted Nicolas Winding Refn’s Only God Forgives to be, or at least lead up to jarring visuals with dense undertones and a bone-crunching payoff.

Monkey Man delivers on the action and is a solid debut for Dev Patel as a director. Still, a sequel or future film in the genre would reach legendary status with a stronger story and more coherent cinematography.

NEXT: ‘Exhuma’ Review – Hurry Up and Frustrate

Monkey Man (2024), Universal Pictures

• Bloody action
• Weak writing

More About: Movie Reviews Movies Reviews

‘Carnage Radio’ Panic Fest 2024 Review: An Ambitious Yet Mixed Signal

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Share on LinkedIn
• Share on Flipboard
• Share on Reddit
• Share on Pinterest
• Share on WhatsApp
• Share via Email

Sorry, Carnage Radio , but you’re not the winning caller. Movies, broadly speaking, must transcend the sum of their individual parts, and for what it’s worth, James Fite’s Carnage Radio is composed of very, very good parts. The cast, across the board, seamlessly shift into their small-town Texan roles, adroitly balancing quirks and genial Southern hospitality with ease. Musical interludes, though non-descript (licensed tracks might well be reduced to a genre, an ‘insert rock song here’ vibe) texturize familiar settings. Yet, Fite’s scale is so large, so involved, it erodes the pinpoint parts keeping it together. Carnage Radio shoots for the moon, just barely managing to land among the stars.

Requite geographic exposition transitions to Brad’s (Brandon J. Johnson) radio show. As a guest calls in, they’re stalked off-screen. Then, they die off-screen, introducing a laudable though misguided procedural component with Oliva Clari Nice’s Detective Sarah Ornelas. Principally, the scale of a micro-indie production often constrains Carnage Radio’s guiding narrative. The procedural elements feel conventional in a world otherwise distinct in the horror sphere, checking off every expected procedural variable there is.

Carnage Radio has angry police chiefs, tortured detectives, sudden revelations, and even a slow-motion walk into a crime scene lit exclusively by red and blue siren lights. Billed as a slasher , the slashing itself sits backseat, caged away from the movie Carnage Radio is trying, not always successfully, to be.

Also Read: ‘Livescreamers’ Unnamed Footage Festival 2024 Review: Screen Life Horror Done Right

Character carries most of the weight, delivering even as the scope exceeds tenability. There are several core groups navigating the world all at once, with Carnage Radio inducing tonal and narrative whiplash as it shifts from the investigation, to the radio station, to the local theater, and then back again. Someone is killing listeners to Brad’s show, though that’s never the sole drive.

The killer reveal happens relatively early, adding intrigue and some effective cat-and-mouse chasing, though Carnage Radio , committed to its own elevation, never lingers long enough on the best conventions of the genre. Trying something new isn’t an innately bad thing, but doing so without a solid foundation can be. At its worst, Carnage Radio subverts a script it never had in the first place.

Fun characters, a setting dripping with personality, and some key directorial talent from Fite yield promise. Constrained, no doubt, by the resources available, Carnage Radio is a broadcast worth tuning into it. You might not be the first or the tenth caller, but when someone picks up, you’re bound to hear at least something you liked.

• Carnage Radio

A slasher with big dreams, Carnage Radio’s transmission, while compelling, is often hard to decipher.

Categorized: Reviews

Netflix ‘Ripley’ remake miscalculates on actors’ ages

Series looks great, but casting men in their 40s as the callow expats hurts the story..

The title character of “Ripley” (Andrew Scott) sees a grifting opportunity when he’s dispatched to Italy to retrieve a shipping magnate’s son.

Patricia Highsmith’s iconic 1955 psychological thriller “The Talented Mr. Ripley” has inspired a number of adaptations across various platforms, including two nearly perfect feature film versions: René Clément’s “Purple Noon” (1960), starring Alain Delon, and Anthony Minghella’s 1999 masterpiece “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” with that pitch-perfect casting of Matt Damon as Tom Ripley, Jude Law as Dickie Greenleaf and Gwyneth Paltrow as Marge Sherwood, and Philip Seymour Hoffman, Cate Blanchett and Jack Davenport contributing invaluable supporting work.

Of course, 1960 and even 1999 are ancient history in a 21st century film/streaming world in which hardly a week goes by without a reboot or remake, and so it goes with the eight-part Netflix limited series “Ripley.” With the acclaimed filmmaker Steven Zaillian (writer of “Schindler’s List,” “Gangs of New York” and “The Irishman”) as writer, director and executive producer, the Oscar-winning cinematographer Robert Elswit (“Boogie Nights,” “There Will Be Blood”) delivering stunningly gorgeous, exclusively black-and-white visuals, and that brilliant source material, “Ripley” would seem to have all the makings of a high-end, audience-pleasing, awards-bait sensation.

Unfortunately, this version of the story is problematic from the outset, in large part because of some curious casting choices, as well as a tendency by the greatly talented Zaillian to indulge in a number of overlong sequences that are initially intriguing but eventually wear out one’s patience.

Let’s start with that casting, and I preface this by saying I have enormous respect for the main players in “Ripley.” I just felt they weren’t right for the characters they’re playing in this vehicle. The series starts off in New York City, where Andrew Scott plays Tom Ripley, a low-level grifter who barely scrapes by via a series of cheap cons. Tom is summoned to a meeting with the shipping magnate Herbert Greenleaf (Kenneth Lonergan), who has been led to believe Tom is acquainted with Herbert’s ne’er-do-well son Dickie, who has been living off trust money in Italy for years. Herbert makes Tom quite the offer: He’ll pay him a princely sum and send him off to Italy in first-class style so that Tom can persuade Dickie to come home.

• Review of Andrew Scott in the ambitiously spiritual ‘All of Us Strangers’

From there the main story lands in Italy, with consistently beautiful location shots on the Amalfi coast, and in Naples and Venice and Rome. Clearly out of place and out of sync with the culture, speaking no Italian and bumbling his way about, Tom manages to “accidentally” run into Dickie (Johnny Flynn) and Dickie’s girlfriend Marge (Dakota Fanning), although he rather quickly reveals to Dickie that he’s been sent here by Dickie’s father. Thus begins a whirlwind period in which Dickie takes Tom under his wing and they become fast friends, much to the consternation of the rather dour Marge, who doesn’t trust this interloper.

Johnny Flynn plays Dickie, who’s living off his trust fund in Italy.

In the 1999 film, Dickie was just two years out of college, and the actors playing Tom, Dickie and Marge were all in their 20s. They were peers. They were young and, in some cases, hopelessly naïve. Here, with the 47-year-old Scott playing Tom and the 41-year-old Johnny Flynn as Dickie, are we to believe Tom has been a grifter for at least two decades, while Dickie has been squandering his potential for nearly that long?

Also problematic: The Tom we see in New York City isn’t a particularly skilled con artist. But once he arrives in Italy, he turns into a savant who becomes fluent in Italian and masterminds an elaborate scheme in which he impersonates Dickie, commits heinous crimes and makes a fool out of the inspector (Maurizio Lombardi) in charge of investigating those crimes. It’s a whiplash of a transformation.

Even though “Ripley” stretches across eight episodes, with running times ranging from 47 minutes to the 74-minute finale, it actually has a LESS complicated plot than the 1999 film. The Cate Blanchett character of Meredith Logue, from whose interactions with Tom (whom she believed to be Dickie) made for some of the most intricate and exquisitely choreographed scenes in “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” is nowhere to be seen. (We do have the pleasure of seeing John Malkovich, who played Tom Ripley in 2002’s “Ripley’s Game,” in an entirely different role here, and we’ll say no more about that.)

One might question why I’m making so many comparisons to previous iterations, and commenting on the ages of the actors, which I would never do unless it’s germane to the casting, e.g., when someone is obviously too old to be playing a high schooler. Shouldn’t the present-day work be judged on its own merits? In this case, when the novel and in particular the 1999 adaptation are so well known, I believe it’s impossible to ignore that history. “Ripley” is a great-looking series with some occasionally effective moments, but it stumbles out of the starting gate and never fully regains its footing.

Filed under:

Monkey Man sets up Dev Patel as an action star — and maybe the anti-Bond

Patel’s shaggy directorial debut is surprisingly serious business

Share this story

• Share this on Facebook
• Share this on Reddit
• Share All sharing options

Share All sharing options for: Monkey Man sets up Dev Patel as an action star — and maybe the anti-Bond

Dev Patel looks great beating people up in a suit. In the moments before he springs into action in Monkey Man , his tall, elegant frame looms threateningly, limbs hanging loose and ready, eyes glowering under twisted locks of black hair. When he strikes, it’s with whipcrack fluidity and control, but also emotional conviction — there’s a plausible desperation or rage to the way he moves.

Patel is one of the actors most frequently fancast as James Bond, so it’s very exciting to watch this taekwondo black belt flex his action-star muscles in Monkey Man , a feverish revenge movie set in a fictionalized India that also marks his directorial debut. The movie could easily be seen as an audition tape; now we know he can summon the brutal edge as well as the smoldering looks. On the other hand, the movie announces a restless filmmaker who might not be content to spend the next 15 years toiling in the franchise mines, even the most luxuriously appointed ones. Patel’s clearly got pictures in his head and things on his mind.

That Monkey Man would be stylish and brutal was clear from the trailer. What might be more surprising is how slow and serious it is. The plotting is spare and simple, but takes a full two hours to unspool. Between bursts of intense hand-to-hand action, the film takes its time soaking in richly colored, grimy imagery and simmering in rage at India’s inequality, discrimination, and corruption.

Patel plays Kid, an anonymous loner in a Mumbai-style city who ekes out a meager living brawling in an underground fight club run by an extremely disreputable Sharlto Copley. Wearing an ape mask and going by the moniker Monkey Man, Kid throws fights and soaks up punishment. But when he scores a job working in the kitchen of a VIP club catering to the city’s elite, it’s not just to escape the beatings. He’s trying to get close to vicious police chief Rana (Sikandar Kher), a regular at the club who, we learn through fragmentary flashbacks, wiped out Kid’s childhood village.

As a setup for a revenge action movie, this is classical to the point of being rudimentary, and Patel — who wrote the story and co-wrote the screenplay with Paul Angunawela and John Collee — doesn’t do a lot to embellish it. Although the movie holds back on the full details of Kid’s motivation until the final act, they’re as clear as a bell from the start, and none of the story beats will surprise an action-movie-literate audience.

After Kid’s first assault at the club goes awry, he is hidden and nursed back to health by a secret hijra community of transgender women led by the guru Alpha (Vipin Sharma). There, he is reborn through the familiar media of suffering, psychedelic flashbacks, and a training montage — a particularly memorable one in this case, with Patel pounding on a sack of flour to the hypnotic rhythms of tabla played by the great Indian classical musician Zakir Hussain. Kid assumes a new, quasi-spiritual persona inspired by the Hindu monkey-god Hanuman, and heads back into the city to get his revenge.

Considering the bare bones it’s built from, Monkey Man is awkwardly structured and can be slow and fussy. Patel is sometimes less concerned with keeping this action movie’s motor running than he is with building out its impressively sweaty atmosphere and constructing a political critique that’s earnest, if a bit unfocused. Rana, the evil chief of police, works as muscle for a phony spiritual leader called Baba Shakti (Makarand Deshpande), who is throwing his weight behind a populist Hindu political party that is stirring up discrimination against Muslims and other oppressed groups. This is an unsubtle dig at the current nationalist Indian regime led by prime minister Narendra Modi. The movie also gestures at the injustices of India’s centuries-old caste system without quite addressing it head-on; in this fictional city in an alternate-universe India, some real-world concepts can be called out by name, and some can’t.

Patel seems dead serious about his themes but also slightly nervous about them, perhaps because of their political sensitivity in India — Modi’s government is increasingly censorious , which might have been behind Netflix’s decision to drop Monkey Man — or perhaps due to an awareness of his own status as an outsider telling an Indian story (he was born and grew up in London). In fascinating essays at IGN and Time , critic Siddhant Adlakha has argued that Patel’s approach is somewhat naive and contradictory. But Patel would hardly be the first filmmaker to get tripped up when trying to use the revenge movie format, with its inherent reactionary conservatism, for progressive ends.

When Monkey Man finally shifts into gear for its action scenes, there’s a clearer vision at work — though perhaps “clear” isn’t the word for it. Patel, working with fight choreographer Brahim Chab and cinematographer Sharone Meir ( Whiplash ), shoots the fights up close and personal with a frenetic handheld camera that judders and whip-pans with the force of every blow, and deftly stitches these shots together into head-spinning, unbroken runs of movement. Influenced by Korean, Indonesian, and Bollywood action movies , what the style sometimes lacks in clarity it makes up in ferocity and impact. The desperation of Kid’s first bathroom battle with Rana is brilliantly conveyed (Kher is fantastic in an old-school heavy role), and the extended climax is intermittently stunning, although the editing sometimes struggles to maintain focus when things get busy.

A lack of focus is the main issue with Monkey Man across the board; you can imagine a version of this movie that’s shorter, a little cheesier maybe, and more fun to watch. But this elevated action potboiler doesn’t suffer from this flaw as much as a film in its genre usually would. That’s thanks to Patel’s sincerity and style — the cathartic charge and rich visual texture he brings to what is essentially a movie about punching. In a way, Monkey Man ’s lack of composure is the point, and after it’s over, it’s easy to see Patel as an action star, but hard to picture him slipping into the role of a smooth agent of the colonial order. Maybe Bond’s not what he should be doing after all.

Monkey Man opens in theaters on April 5.

Loading comments...