Really wasn't sure what to expect from Whiplash other than drums being the centerpiece of the story. Within minutes of the movie starting, you know exactly what this is all about: Abusive Teacher schooling an up and coming drummer looking to become one of the all time greats. That's the premise. I thought the movie was good, but not great. My biggest issue with the flick is that there is no backstory to why Andrew is driven to make it at any cost. We see what he is willing to do to get there (walking away from a car crash, breaking up with his girlfriend, etc....), but where is this need coming from? Now I would have accepted if he had a bad childhood, abusive parents, teasing from classmates as a motivating factor to prove his worth. But from what I saw, he had the support and love of his father and a girl that liked him. So, why drive yourself mad to get there?

The ending could have been so much better, but let me back up a bit here. I liked that Andrew took ownership of his drum solo rather than walking out with his tail between his legs. What I wanted to see was a 'Crossroads' moment......a battle between Andrew and Fletcher as played by J.K. Simmons, who by the way was f*cking awesome in this role. When Andrew comes back on stage and literally upstages Fletcher, I thought the Crossroads moment had arrived. I though that the intention of the showdown was going to be about Andrew making Fletcher irrelevant to the point where it would be him walking off stage. Unfortunately for me as a viewer it became about Andrew giving Fletcher his own personal Charlie Parker moment. Honestly, why the f*ck would anyone go out of their way to give him something like this to validate all the torture he put him through? Hell man, it wasn't more than 15 minutes ago where Fletcher purposely sabotages Andrew in public by switching up the songs. With all that said, I say this is worth a Rent just to see Simmons killing it.