Whiplash
Absolutely loved Whiplash. Brilliant performances all around, but Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons are phenomenal. Fletcher is one of those characters who completely dominates every scene he’s in.
That first lesson. Fletcher singles someone out for being out of tune and throws him out, only to reveal that he was actually in tune, he was testing whether the guy knew it himself. He hurls a chair at Neiman, slaps him while making him count, screams abuse at him and deliberately humiliates him. Meanwhile, Neiman responds by practising until his hands blister, putting plasters over them and carrying on.
That obsession just keeps escalating. Losing the music folder accidentally gives Neiman his opportunity, Fletcher uses Connolly to threaten his position, and Neiman’s own family barely seem to understand why his musical achievements mean so much to him. Eventually he’s drumming until the kit is covered in blood and, most insanely, crawling out of a fucking car crash and still trying to make it on stage.
Then you discover Fletcher lied about Sean Casey dying in a car accident when he actually took his own life after suffering from Fletcher’s abuse. Suddenly Fletcher’s methods stop being something you can dismiss as simply an extreme teacher trying to create greatness.
And then there’s that ending.
Fletcher deliberately tries to destroy Neiman on stage after Neiman helped destroy his career, only for Neiman to come back out, take control and play the performance of his life.
My first reaction was
“YES! Neiman fucking beat him.”
Then Fletcher starts conducting. Neiman follows him. They look at each other. Fletcher smiles.
And I immediately thought,
“Oh fuck… did Fletcher actually win?”
That’s what I love about the ending. I genuinely don’t know how I feel about it. Neiman finally stood up to Fletcher and proved what he could do, which feels like a victory. But at the same time, Fletcher finally got the performance he’d been trying to force out of him all along.
There are no two words in the English language more harmful than ‘good job.’