"Whiplash" Drummed Up Trash - Take a Pass

The melodramatic film, "Whiplash" is a psychological mind game pseudo-thriller with jazz riffed into the mix.  Set in "the most prestigious music school in the world,"  we follow Andy Dunn (Miles Teller)  aspiring to be a great drummer.  May I have a drum roll please, tah dum... And Your Done from the 1st down beat.   Jazz dept. dir. Terrence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons) selects Andy to be in his elite jazz troupe & tells him "just have fun."  Chair throwing & abusive humiliation is no sane person's idea of fun.  Fletcher makes no apologies for his motivational methods of intentional emotional distress.  Andy asks  whether there is a harmful line to cross.  Fletcher reasons the ends justify the means. "I push people beyond what's expected.  It's necessary to bring in the next great Armstrong or Parker."  The movie's tempo is mired in platitudes & predicatable plodding plots.  En route to the jazz competition, everything goes wrong.  The collision you see coming leaves him a bloody mess.  Fear not, he makes it to there on time.  Oops, was that a buzz kill?  The entire movie is a train wreck unless watching a militaristic boot camp bully push students to the brink is your idea of fun.  Miles Teller is a talented young actor reminiscent of a young Robert Mitchum.  Hopefully Teller will get other gigs worthy of his talent.  Thankfully, this is whipped up fictitious trash.  See the doc. "Keep on Keepin on" instead to watch a truly great man & jazz mentor.