“Cry me a river,” Andrew Neyman would probably say to any of your daily Penn com plaints—and he’d be justified. Let me be quite clear: do not see “Whiplash” to get away from all the overwhelming stresses of Penn culture. It’s anxiety–inducing start to finish, and as much as we like to fall into the worlds of on-screen characters, doing so here may leave you panicking more than ever. Real talk: things are more intense for Andrew at the Shaffer Conservatory of Music than they ever will be for you!
Andrew (Miles Teller) is a semi–arrogant young drumming student at Shaffer (basically Juilliard), who gets selected to join the advanced jazz ensemble of militaristic conductor Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons). Teller, from “The Spectacular Now” and that bro–comedy with Zac Efron, proves he can act. Simmons, from everything, including the newspaper editor in the Tobey Maguire “Spider–Man” and the dad in “Juno,” is already an established force, but you’ve never seen him like this: sociopathic.
Fletcher brings a whole new meaning to anger management is- sues, physically and mentally attacking students when they per- form anything not to his liking. The political brouhaha at Penn would be unparalleled, but here, students just take his insults, screams and slaps, even as they are reduced to tears. It’s horrify- ing to watch, but Andrew wants to push himself to be the best, creating an ethical quandary about whether Fletcher’s methods are okay if he ends up fostering “the next Charlie Parker.”
The movie is filled with extended scenes of Andrew practicing so hard his hands bloody (brutal) and with lengthy jazz numbers, including the title song “Whiplash” (more pleasant). It has the pacing of a sports movie, but here, jazz is somehow more extreme and there are far fewer happy, successful moments. “Whiplash” features two award–worthy tour de force acting performances, but the entire thing is a panicky crescendo—which director Damien Chezelle no doubt intends.
So yeah, maybe you’re thinking, “Wow, this sounds insane! It’ll be a great reality check about collegiate life that will give me per- spective and make me feel calmer.” Maybe! But maybe you’ll be like this reviewer whose heart pounded all the way home from Old City. “Whiplash” is incredibly well acted, but it’s hard to say I liked it.
