Whiplash

⭐ 9.5/10

(Originally written by Beans)

Had to give this a watch after reading Joe’s 10/10 review. I think this is one of the most unique movies I’ve ever seen. Or, at least unique in the way that it perfectly executes all moving parts. The atmosphere, the characters, the tension, the motivations, the romance, the family! Everything plays a part to create an incredible story that is very hard to watch yet leads to this grand crescendo.

Indeed, I yelled, audibly gasped, and screamed multiple times throughout. Many great moments that made me angry, happy, sad, elated; again, this movie does it all.

I thought Miles Teller plays this little nerd perfectly and Simmons was the perfect antagonist. Just so ruthless and unrelenting, and yet, at times, I found myself agreeing with some of his philosophy. What *does* it take to become great? Does being great create bad people or are they bad people and that leads them to greatness? It’s such an interesting question, and I think even more topical now than it was a decade ago when this movie was released.

I think about my own life, and the things I do to simply be good at something, much less great or the best. Running comes to mind, and I will never be the best, and yet there is something that pushes me to go further, harder, and to keep showing up. Humans are weird, but I don’t think we were ever meant to have the amount of power or influence that some people hold.

Really loved this, but I think it falls just shy of a 10 for me because I don’t know how lasting it will be. Time will tell.