Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.5

Whiplash Blu-ray Movie Review

An astonishing movie from start to finish.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman February 19, 2015

Many students -- particularly when speaking of their educational experiences in hindsight -- will claim that their most challenging, demanding, and sometimes even harsh professors were their best. Often disliked by most of the students who, then, couldn't see the value in the vitriol, these instructors prove their worth not in the moment but in the prism of time. They know that their goal isn't to simply flood the mind with information or even drill it in with repetition but rather to prepare the mind for the world -- forcefully if necessary -- and to exercise it in such a way that it's always open and ever capable of adjusting to the most challenging of circumstances, not simply coddled in a vacuum that's nothing like the challenges that wait for students outside of the school grounds. Much like the best physical trainers push their clients beyond limits, so too do the best teachers work their students to a point of failure that doesn't weaken the person but instead makes him or her stronger for the next challenge. That's why sports coaches work the team harder in practice and why Army drill instructors are so famously forceful in preparing their soldiers for war. Simply teaching them to run a play, fire a weapon, or understand the importance of precise instruction and discipline does them no good in a real world, quite possibly life-or-death scenario when it's instead experience, reflex, understanding, and courage that may win the day, not hand-holding and participation awards. But is there a line that separates hard-knock lessons from emotional and physical torture? And is there a line a student must not cross that separates an eagerness to learn at any price from a very tangible pain and hardship that no longer leads to knowledge and success but instead emotional destruction? Those are the conflicting ideas explored in Whiplash, an extraordinary film from Writer/Director Damien Chazelle that pits an eager student, willing to go the distance and well beyond, against an instructor who expects even more than the student in question is willing to give.

Again.

Andrew (Miles Teller) is a first-year student at the prestigious Shaffer Conservatory of Music, a school for the most gifted musicians in the country. He aspires to become a legend in the world of Jazz drumming, and that means learning under the notorious Fletcher (J.K. Simmons), a teacher who either gets results by separating the wheat from the chaff by any means necessary, pushing his students to their limits, and then some, or weeding out the weaklings that cannot hack it in the demanding world of top-tier music. Andrew's relationship with Fletcher is, at first, a challenge, but just when it seems like he's gained the teacher's confidence and trust, Fletcher ruthlessly attacks young Andrew, harsher and more frequently than any student in recent memory, as far back as another gifted musician the instructor drove to suicide. Andrew must choose to stay the course, focus entirely on his music, and lose everything else in life or step back and let his dream slip through his fingers as quickly as the insults and belittling criticisms flow out of Fletcher's mouth.

In the simplest terms possible, Whiplash is like Full Metal Jacket for the music world. J.K. Simmons plays the part of R. Lee Ermey. Opposite him is Miles Teller, who isn't exactly Private Pyle or Private Joker but instead a ruthless version of Rudy Ruettiger. But the movie is much more complicated than that, of course. It's a finely-tuned ballet of unbreakable determination meets unrelenting vitriol that depicts a student determined to succeed at all costs -- he literally bleeds for his dream -- against an instructor who chews him up and spits him out, uncaring, it seems, for the person he's wounding in the process and, often, to the detriment of the musicians who surround him. But the film's core component lies in one question: what pushes them so far and so hard? What drives them to give and take to such an extreme that challenging, exacting instruction and demanding, unwavering performance collide like the proverbial unstoppable force and immovable object? Is theirs a chance meeting of unbreakable wills or is there some sort of cosmic orchestration that brings them together in such a way that will either validate their methods or destroy them both? The movie proves a fascinating examination of both the human condition and the human spirit pushed beyond their limits.

Certainly, Whiplash is the story of two individuals, highly driven and motivated, and their outward back-and-forth plays central to the story as Fletcher pushes Andrew to his limits and beyond. But perhaps the more interesting story is a psychological one that challenges the audience to look past the tight, cohesive, even disturbing drama and look for a much deeper set of wounds on the inside. The movie is fundamentally about finding the appropriate inner tempo, not a quest to playing perfect musical tempo in the physical world. Andrew is pushed internally by himself and externally by his teacher and, in turn, then, even further by himself, to the point that his music absorbs him to an unhealthy level, bringing him not only to bleed but to a state of mind and a degradation of spirit that overwhelms and consumes his life rather than enriches it. The movie plays as almost a warning sign that points to the dangers of "too much" of anything, an idea that hangs over it from start to finish, from the first time Andrew meets Fletcher to the fascinating finale that is itself uneasy in progression, richly complex in delivery, and fundamentally satisfying in tone, essentially, then, a microcosm of the entire movie in the final ten or so minutes. Yet no matter how it resolves, the movie does engender the question of whether it itself pushes too far, elevating beyond a classic "challenging" movie and becoming almost revolting in how far it carries its characters. On one hand, one cannot help but admire the determination on one side and the unyielding demand for perfection on the other, but as lives are destroyed and passion becomes obsession which becomes an unhealthy singular focus that simultaneously destroys from the inside out and from the outside in, the movie comes dangerously close to distancing itself from the audience rather than fully absorbing it into a complex and harshly resolved tale of great excesses.

Indeed, the movie treads dangerously close to going too far, but it never does. Whiplash pushes the audience to a breaking point but never the whole way beyond, leaving viewers in a state of emotional upheaval through most all of it but at the end more in a state of awe considering how fundamentally pure the movie proves itself in terms of pitch-perfect construction and delivery of some of the most challenging material ever to appear on the screen. Damien Chazelle's script is mesmerizingly rich and detailed, and his direction is fully absorbing, both finding intricate, nuanced details that elevate not only the drama but the performances that make the movie work. Miles Teller is terrific as Andrew, finding an inner obsession and evolving from a state of unflinching determination to multiple breaking points and beyond in a performance that's not only physically challenging but emotionally wrecking through the entirety, from the conflicted emotions of his first run-in with Fletcher all the way through to their final meeting. Yet the film benefits most from an absolutely dominating performance from J.K. Simmons who shapes a deep, mysterious, almost wounded character in the instructor who is so complex that even right to the very end one cannot tell if his methods are mad or whether there's some almost evil genius to the way he goes about his business, the way he pushes, and pushes, and pushes some more with seemingly no care for the individual on any level. Does he break with the intention to bring back his student stronger than before, or is he simply a man whose past has somehow brought him to a point of no return where his only satisfaction comes not from molding the next great musician but identifying the top talent and breaking the person to ensure he or she fails to meet their potential? Whatever the case may be -- wherever the movie and actor does or does not take the character -- Simmons absolutely makes the movie and embodies the film's dual strengths as an outwardly intense drama and an inwardly fascinating exploration of the human condition.

Whiplash Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Whiplash arrives on Blu-ray with a high end 1080p, 2.40:1-framed transfer. The digital photography occasionally takes on a lightly glossy appearance, but for the most part it's only clean rather than artificial. Details thoroughly impress and sometimes favor a lightly evident softness. Facial texture are particularly robust, including scars on Andrew's face and lines on Fletcher's. The warm wooden accents around the Shaffer music rooms, textured sheet music paper, instrument surfaces, and close-ups of band-aids reveal amazing attention to specific detail and appear with tangible, fully lifelike textures. Image clarity is often so strong as to catch flying beads of sweats and drops of blood falling off faces and bouncing off the drums. Colors are fine, but the image is predominantly warm with a fairly heavy orange/yellow push that frequently befalls skin tones as well. But lighter daytime shots -- such as when Andrew rides the bus -- offer a more stabilized, natural array of colors. Black levels are fairly good but reveal a hint of paleness in spots. Very light noise and banding are also evident in a few places. On the whole, however, this is a very strong Blu-ray transfer from Sony.

Whiplash Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Whiplash's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack opens with a light repeating drum cadence that grows slowly more rapid in pace and volume in a rather straightforward, center channel-focused alignment. It's well defined and nicely filling but only a hint of what's to come. Music is obviously key to the film and the soundtrack explodes with incredible lifelike precision in every rehearsal and performance, even if it's in short bursts interrupted by Fletcher's displeasure with each go. Instrument details across the entire band are fantastic, with each readily identifiable yet part of a much larger, more robust, and infinitely satisfying collective. It flows effortlessly into the stage with remarkable lifelike clarity and precise definition, from the most prominent highs to the deepest lows. It's a wondrous presentation each and every time, each scene true reference material. The track finds bit of minor ambience in spots as well, gently filling the stage with small yet environment-defining bits. Dialogue flows evenly and clearly from the center. This is a stellar effort that's critical to enjoying the movie to the fullest.

Whiplash Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Whiplash contains the following grouping of extras. Also included in the Blu-ray case is a voucher for a UV digital copy.

• Audio Commentary: Actor J.K. Simmons and Writer/Director Damien Chazelle provide a quality track in which Chazelle plays the serious side and Simmons the comic relief. They cover casting, performances and shaping the actors for the parts, filming locations, developing the film from page to screen, crafting various scenes from both technical and emotional perspectives, and more. This is a good all-around track worthy of a brilliant film.
• Timekeepers (1080p, 42:56): Professional drummers share their personal histories, musical educations and instructors, influences, careers in music, and more.
• Whiplash Original Short Film (1080p, DD 2.0 17:56): The original short that preceded the feature film. With optional commentary by Writer/Director Damien Chazelle; Producers Couper Samuelson, Helen Estabrook, and Nick Britell; and Film Editor Tom Cross.
• Fletcher at Home (1080p, 1:30): A deleted scene with optional filmmaker commentary that says quite a bit in a short amount of time about how a single scene can alter the feel of an entire movie.
• An Evening at the Toronto International Film Festival with Miles Teller, J.K. Simmons, and Damien Chazelle (1080i, 7:50): The actors and writer/director sit down with Moderator Kerri Craddock to discuss the film.
• Theatrical Trailer (1080p, 2:10).
• Previews (1080p): Additional Sony titles.

Whiplash Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Whiplash is a beautifully complex movie that might admittedly scare some away considering both what appears to be a fairly trite, routine story of a student-teacher relationship and an examination of an unhealthy obsession and an unhealthy teaching tool. But the movie absolutely shines as a dark and wonderfully complex examination of the human condition, punctuated by two of the most outstanding performances of the year, including an Oscar-nominated effort from J.K. Simmons who deserves to walk away with the award. Sony's Blu-ray release of Whiplash is outstanding. High quality picture, amazing sound, and a nice compliment of extras make this one of the best of the young 2015 release schedule and practically a shoo-in for a spot on the end-of-year top ten list. Whiplash earns my highest recommendation.