Whiplash

JK Simmons and Miles Teller in Whiplash

Damien Chazelle's Whiplash is a bracing study of the torment a music teacher inflicts upon a student drummer with a good performance by Miles Teller and a great one by JK Simmons. Simmons injects the right notes of self drama, compassion, and hauteur to make his monster all too human. This helps smooth the formulaic and histrionic nature of the script. Subplots concerning Teller's father and girlfriend would have seemed old hat when John Garfield made his debut. Chazelle reins in the hysteria of the central conflict by reveling in his characters' love of jazz. The film's musical sequences are cut to the rhythms of the performances with affection and verve. This bodes well for Chazelle's upcoming musical, but Whiplash is both celebratory and manipulative. (11/20/16)