“Whiplash” doesn’t lend itself well to a synopsis. Saying that it’s a story about a college student whose mentor pushes him to drumming excellence makes it appear clichéd and overdone. Going any further spoils the movie’s drive to ask its audience how much ‘push’ is too much – when does Fletcher’s (J.K. Simmons) pushing go too far?

The tension caused by the conflicts between Andrew (Miles Teller) and his mentor comes from the intentional decision to keep Fletcher’s thought process away from the viewer. Everything that happens in the movie is shown through Andrew’s point of view, but shot with a sense of pragmatism that allows the audience to see, from an objective standpoint, what’s really happening, even as Andrew seemingly refuses to acknowledge it.

Though Miles Teller has, by far, most of the screen time in “Whiplash,” J.K. Simmons’ portrayal of Fletcher steals the spotlight. Fletcher is obviously designed to be abrasive and cold, Simmons delivers his insults as easily as a nice teacher would give praise or candy.

By contrast, Andrew is best in silence. He spends a lot of time in the movie by himself with nothing else in the room but his drums. The only sound is the drums, they perfectly mirror the state of mind Andrew is trying to convey, though it feels more like a cover than a compliment.

Miles Teller’s performance as Andrew is far less impressive when he actually opens his mouth. Not to say he does a BAD job, but his lines and the way he delivers them almost pulls me out of the moment. One scene in which Andrew argues with his family, is clearly designed to draw sympathy from the audience, but left me feeling like he was being a brat to his parents and brothers.

Teller’s saving grace is the drum work, which he did himself for the movie. Even though the sequences where Andrew is playing the drums (one of which extends up to nine minutes) are dubbed over with a separate audio track, the passion and intensity Teller brings to his kit more than makes up for it.

“Whiplash” is your typical inspiring-teacher drama with enough subtle twists to keep it interesting, powered by an intense bassline that gives the movie its power.