this morning's insomnia lead to renting and watching "Whiplash", the 2014 drama about a sadist and his protege that's not "Fifty Shades of Grey", and which earned J.K. Simmons (Juno, Spider-Man, Farmers Insurance) an Oscar, a BAFTA and a Florida Film Critics Circle Award.
this is a deeply disturbing film about a music school teacher with no redeeming qualities, who taunts, berates and physically abuses his students to no discernible end... into this tableau we drop Miles Teller (no relation to the silent half of Penn &) who is Owl Jolson of Warner Brothers cartoon fame, come to life, except drumming instead of singing, and a WHOLE lot more blood... Miles is a freshman at the country's most elite music college where none of the other first year students seem to be able to play an instrument... Prof. Fritz Owl, in the form of Simmons (who confuses making the veins in his neck bulge with acting) takes Teller under his wing (see what i did there) to mentor him (?) humiliate him (?) teach him (?) ... no idea... and, truth be told, i don't care... being constantly on guard while waiting for the next episode of explosive rage isn't entertainment, its a flashback to my childhood... we're not given any reason to believe that being successful in the eye of this R. Lee Ermey wannabe leads to anything other than suicide (oops... spoiler alert...), plus he directs with the cat-like movements of Bubba Watson sinking a birdie (and who knows if he's a great drummer, let alone a good musician... we only get a tiny glimpse of his own playing, and its uninspired and uninspiring)...
the film ends with the glee club getting to go to regionals (or something... it was close to 4:30AM by that point) and with Miles giving a drum solo that goes on and on and on and on until the screen goes black and Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" plays over the credits (or something... it was close to dawn by that point)...
you don't need to see this film. if the only way you can see to become really good at something is to tie your identity and self worth to an abusive asshole, you may want to think about trying to be really good at something else (maybe conducting?)... save the time, the money and the emotional abuse and watch this cartoon, instead... you'll thank me!
Classic Merry Melodies cartoon, "Owl Jolson" featuring the song, "I Love to Singa." It's a surprisingly great story about parents learning to love their chil...
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