Whiplash Review

Promising young drummer, Andrew Neeman enrolls in the most cut throat music program in the country where he begins his road to being a jazz drummer. Along the way he meets instructor Terance Fletcher who will stop at nothing to turn his students into the next Charlie Parker.
I didn't know anything about Whiplash when I watched it, a friend recommended it to me by saying, "it's about band!" So obviously I had to watch it. And oh my goodness am I ever glad I did. Just because this movie is about music and musicians doesn't mean it is focused to musicians. I think anyone who has a drive in life can relate to this movie. It touches on drive and addiction and it does a damn good job at it.
I think watching this as a musician gave me a bit of a different perspective on it versus someone who isn't a musician. In the movie the protagonist practices until his hands bleed to impress his instructor and I relate to that. I relate so hard to practicing my butt off to impress someone, especially in music. But the great thing about this movie is you don't have to be a musician to get that. You can be anyone.
Another thing that was great about this movie were the characters. Both the protagonist and the antagonist have their flaws and their attributes and you don't really know who is good and who is bad. They are real people, good and bad. The character played by J.K Simmons is a total jerk, but there are times in the movie where you like him and it's weird because you want to hate him but you can't help but like him. It's a very strange feeling.
There is a scene in the movie where Andrew Neeman and Terance Fletcher are talking about Fletcher's rough teaching method and how he did it to inspire the next generation of Charlie Parker's and Louis Armstrong's. He said that Charlie Parker only came to be who he was because a cymbal was thrown at his head because he messed up a solo which only pushed him to work harder and to prove himself. Neeman then asks Fletcher, is there a line that is crossed in this method? And Fletcher replies with no, because Charlie Parker and Louis Armstrong would never give up or be intimidated. And that my friends, is my favourite line in the movie. In order to be one of the greats, you need to work for it and you need people to be honest. You are not going to be the best by having everyone tell you, oh it was good and not improving. I think that is something to take away from this movie. You always need someone in your life who is going to be brutally honest with you and if you can't take that honestly, maybe you aren't cut out for what you want to do.