Whiplash received critical acclaim from many critic reviews. The film has a score of 94% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 256 reviews, with a rating average of 8.6/10. On Metacritic, another review aggregator, the film has a score of 88 out of 100, based on 49 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
Many people praised the movie for the great direction, editing, and writing; adding that Whiplash managed to turn the cliches of the musical-prodigy genre into such and intense and inspiring story that is rare to be found nowadays. Simmons also gained unanimous praises for their performance in the movie and won "Best Supporting Actor" Award at the 87th Academy Awards. Although Whiplash received many positive reviews, Forrest Wickman of Slate accused the film of distorting jazz history and promoting a misleading idea of genius. In The New Yorker, Richard Brody argued that "Whiplash honors neither jazz nor cinema".
Whiplash tells us about the struggle of a young and talented drummer named Andrew Neiman who aspires to become one of the greats. He met Terence Fletcher, an instructor at his conservatory known for his abusive and terriying teaching methods. Fletcher discovers Andrew practicing in the music room late one night and eventually invites him into his studio band as the alternative for core drummer, Carl Tanner. From there, a bound between the teacher and the pupil starts. A boy that is willing to sacrifice anything to be a prodigy and a teacher that will abuse and torment his pupils just to push them harder than ever. Andrew that is so desperate to impress Fletcher even go as far as breaking up with his girlfriend, Nicole and practicing even harder after being humiliated and slapped in front of the class by Fletcher.
Andrew is ambitious and on top of that he is talented. Fletcher realises that but he also realises that it takes more than that to be a legend just like what Andrew dreams of. Fletcher meanwhile, has given up on that dream longtime ago. Instead, he wants his students to achieve that dream and he sees what it takes in Andrew. They both are hard on each other, but they know that they need each other anyway.
I find Whiplash to be really exciting and enjoyable to watch. From the performance of the actors to how the movie is very well directed. It is for sure has to be in everyone's must-watch list. I found Andrew struggle is real and probably that's just how people are in real life. They probably have to suffer that much to achieve their dreams. It is all about blood, sweat, tears...
I recommend the movie for adult only since it contains some strong language and also massive violence. The picture quality is definitely one of the best without those CGI stuffs, if not they wouldn't have won the "Best Picture".
So people, you may have thought that your parents or teachers have been too hard on you. You thought, "You have no right to treat me like this". That's what Andrew thought too. But at the end he realises, Fletcher needs to do that. If he didn't do it, Andrew would not be as great as he is now.
