See it at the Movies

WHIPLASH

Joyce and Don Fowler
Posted 11/27/14

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(Tense relationship tale enhanced with cool jazz)

Miles Teller plays Andrew, an egocentric young drummer who is convinced that he can become the next Buddy Rich. Andrew is challenged, …

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See it at the Movies

WHIPLASH

Posted

* * * *

(Tense relationship tale enhanced with cool jazz)

Miles Teller plays Andrew, an egocentric young drummer who is convinced that he can become the next Buddy Rich. Andrew is challenged, goaded, motivated and tortured by his college professor Fletcher (J.K. Simmons) until his hands bleed and his ego is crushed.

Keep your eye on Teller because you’ll see him around Rhode Island, where he is playing Cranston’s own Vinnie Paz in the upcoming “Bleed For This.” If he is as good playing Vinnie as he is playing the emotional Andrew, he should have another stellar performance to his credit.

Simmons is equally great. You may remember him from the Farmer’s Insurance commercials or the short-lived TV series where he played a blind lawyer. He is a man of many talents. You will despise his character as he drives Andrew to the breaking point, under the guise of creating a super jazz drummer.

Andrew is driven to the point of excluding every distraction from his life, including his girlfriend, as he pushes his way from second seat to core drummer in the college jazz band.

The movie will get inside your head and your heart. You’ll feel for Andrew, even though you recognize his social and emotional flaws, wanting to shake some sense into him. And you’ll dislike Fletcher, even though he does arouse some sympathy for his actions. The head game between the two is tense and emotional, right up to the final incredible scene where the two go head to head.

The title of the movie comes from a difficult jazz piece that the band plays in a national competition. If you like jazz, you will not want to miss this movie, which includes a number of jazz standards, including “Caravan,” one of the greatest jazz pieces ever written.

Rated R because of extreme profanity.

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