whiplash
Director: damien chazelle
Actor: miles teller,j.k. simmons,melissa benoist,paul reiser
Data Published: Wed Oct 15 2014
Genres: Drama,Music
Key Words: drummer,music school,new york city,conservatory,drum solo
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2582802/
WIKI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whiplash_(2014_film)
Description: Whiplash is a movie starring Miles Teller, J.K. Simmons, and Melissa Benoist. A promising young drummer enrolls at a cut-throat music conservatory where his dreams of greatness are mentored by an instructor who will stop at nothing...
Plot: Andrew Neiman is a first-year jazz student at the prestigious Shaffer Conservatory in New York. He has been playing drums from a young age and aspires to become like Buddy Rich. Famed conductor Terence Fletcher invites him into his studio band as the alternate for core drummer Carl Tanner. Fletcher is strict and abusive, mocking and insulting his students; when the band rehearses the Hank Levy piece "Whiplash" and Andrew struggles to keep the tempo, Fletcher hurls a chair at him, slaps him and berates him in front of the class. At a jazz competition, Andrew misplaces Carl's sheet music. Since Carl cannot play without it, Andrew tells Fletcher that he can perform "Whiplash" from memory. After a successful performance, Fletcher promotes him to core drummer. Soon after, Fletcher recruits Ryan Connolly, the core drummer from Andrew's former lower-level class. Andrew believes Connolly is the less talented drummer and is infuriated when Fletcher promotes him to core. Determined to impress, Andrew practices until his hands bleed and breaks up with his girlfriend Nicole, believing she will hold him back. After a grueling five-hour audition with Fletcher and the other drummers in the class, in which Fletcher kicks furniture and screams at him, Andrew earns back the core spot. On the way to another competition, Andrew's bus breaks down. He rents a car but arrives late and realizes he left his drumsticks at the rental office. He races back to retrieve them, but his car is broadsided. He crawls from the wreckage, runs back to the theater, and arrives on stage bloody and injured. When he struggles to play "Caravan" due to his injuries, Fletcher halts the performance to fire Andrew. Enraged, Andrew attacks Fletcher in front of the audience and is dismissed from Shaffer Conservatory. At his father's request, Andrew meets a lawyer representing the parents of Sean Casey, Fletcher's former student. Contrary to Fletcher's claim that Sean had died in a car accident, the lawyer explains that Sean committed suicide, having suffered anxiety and depression as Fletcher's student. Sean's parents want to prevent Fletcher from teaching again. Andrew agrees to testify on the condition of anonymity and Fletcher is fired. Months later, Andrew has abandoned drumming and is working in a restaurant. He discovers Fletcher performing at a jazz club. After the performance, Fletcher invites Andrew to have a drink with him. He explains that he pushed his students so that they might become the next Louis Armstrong or Charlie Parker. Andrew accepts Fletcher's invitation to drum with his band at the JVC Jazz Festival. He invites Nicole to the performance, but she is in a new relationship. On stage, before the performance begins, Fletcher reveals that he knows Andrew testified against him, and leads the band with a piece Andrew does not know. Andrew leaves the stage humiliated, but returns, begins playing "Caravan", and cues the band. As the piece ends and the lights go down, Andrew continues his solo. Fletcher is taken aback, but begins to guide Andrew. As the solo ends, they share a smile and Fletcher cues the finale.