With great trepidation, I recommend the movie Whiplash (currently in limited release) to readers of The Odyssey. Set at an elite music conservatory, Whiplash tells the story of Andrew Neyman (Miles Teller), a talented jazz drummer, who joins the school’s jazz band, conducted by Terence Fisher (J.K. Simmons). Fisher isn’t your typical inspirational educator or coach, a la Coach Taylor from "Friday Night Lights." Instead of inspirational speeches set to an Explosions in the Sky song, he motivates his musicians to be their best through mockery, yelling, threats, physical abuse and sheer terror. It is an intense hour and forty-five minutes that is comparable to Memento and the final scene of Argo, but it is still fantastic.
Days after watching it, I am still working out all of my emotions, which are constantly changing. There is a fine line between love and hate, and this movie toes it with the grace of a Russian ballerina. Before you shell out $13 for the ticket and $100 for the snacks, I want to prepare you for the emotions that lay ahead. Be warned, they are potent.
You will love Miles Teller
Ah, Miles Teller. Even when he plays a self-serving butthole with no actual relationships outside that of your father, I still love him. Maybe it’s that earnest smile, or the fact that he is the most accessibly hot man in the biz; either way, he seems absolutely lovely. Plus, he is a tremendously physical actor who goes at his role like I would a bucket of appropriately buttered popcorn. Watching him act was the most validating experience of my week, and I made an A on a French quiz.
You will hate J.K. Simmons
Most commonly known as the professorial State Farm spokesperson, or the newspaper guy from the original Spiderman movies, J.K. Simmons is a ubiquitous actor whose name you probably didn’t know. He has been in nearly everything and has a voice that probably reminds you of your goofy uncle’s. Typically, he seems like a nice guy - harmless, possibly even friendly.
But in this movie he is a terror. Verbally, physically and emotionally abusive, this man could bring Mickey Mouse to tears. He is ruthless, and Simmons’ portrayal of him is honest and forceful. He goes all the way. Without over-acting or becoming fantastical, he transforms into Terence Fletcher in everything he does - his movements, his voice, even the slightest facial twitch scares the pants off of me. Give this seemingly nice man an Oscar because he transforms himself into a movie villain that is right from my nightmares.
Your worst fears from high school will reappear
I woke up the morning after seeing Whiplash a nervous wreck. I had a dream that I was back in my junior year of high school and performing my widely acclaimed role as the principal in the musical Grease. In the second act, I had forgotten all of my lines, causing everyone else to forget their lines, which in turn caused my middle school theater teacher (she was more terrifying than my high school ones) to direct every movement throughout the rest of the play. By the end of the dream, I was crying, while my teacher and the boy I liked yelled at me for failing. It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t fun. And I was panicked for the rest of the day.
You will want to play the drums
Again, thanks to Miles, all I wanted to do when I left the theater was to hit on things rhythmically and loudly. His character was more passionate about jazz drumming than I will ever be about anything. It inspired me. Maybe the drums were actually my calling. Maybe I was supposed to be a drummer, but I got too wrapped up in stupid things like math or American history.
You will then, quickly, never want to play the drums
But then you remember the graphic close-ups of Neyman’s bloody bandaged hands and the drops of blood falling onto the instrument while he was playing. You realize that the drums are probably not your thing, and that it would be better to stick to air-drumming the solo from "In The Air Tonight.” It’s much safer that way.
