There are of course others which I've mentioned in the past... Gone With The Wind, Wuthering Heights, and The English Patient to name a few. My distaste generally boils down to one main factor: I thoroughly dislike the central characters- Scarlett and Rhett, Heathcliff and Catherine, Lazlo and Katherine... these are all deeply unpleasant people. The same can be said of Andrew Neiman and Terrance Fletcher in Whiplash.
Whiplash was written and directed by Damien Chazelle, who also did Grand Piano, a movie which I reviewed last year and quite liked. Were there unbelievable parts in that film? Absolutely, but I enjoyed watching it so was more inclined to overlook its flaws. With Whiplash I was admittedly far less forgiving of its excesses (at one point it devolves into almost an action movie, complete with a car crash and race through the streets) because I wasn't having a good time. Terrance Fletcher is skillfully played by J.K. Simmons, but the fact is, his character has no redeeming qualities; he's a psycho abusive bully to the point where he's almost cartoonishly villainous. It's hard to pretend that a teacher who routinely screamed at and berated his students, threw chairs and cymbals at them, and repeatedly slapped them across the face- and drove one to suicide- wouldn't have been fired, sued, and quite possibly jailed for his behaviour.
I guess we're supposed to empathise with Miles Teller's character Andrew Neiman, but I struggled to do so. Yes, he's the main- although by no means the only- target of Fletcher's abuse, but this does not mean that he's a good or admirable person. We see that he's willing to sabotage others to get ahead- the incident of the missing music score- as well as destroy personal relationships. This includes his relationship with his father, whom he clearly looks down on because he failed in his dream of being a writer. His father is a successful teacher, clearly loves his son, supports Andrew's ambitions despite not understanding his obsession, and- more to the point- foots the bills for his expensive music school. Despite this, Andrew values his good opinion less than that of the physically and emotionally abusive monster, Fletcher.
The only people I felt sorry for in this film- besides Andrew's father- were the other musicians in the final competition. They are having their chance of advancement destroyed by these two jerks who are selfishly engaged on a course of mutually assured destruction.
While definitely not an expert, I do know a little about making music, having played first clarinet in my high school's band and sung in various community and church choirs... we won't mention my sadly mediocre ukulele skills. More to the point, I have a few friends who are professional musicians, though I suppose organists and cellists don't have quite the same coolness factor as jazz musicians. But one thing which struck me as being missing was any sense that these people actually took joy in their music. In my experience, there's always a magic moment where, after working on and struggling with a difficult piece, it all comes together and everyone- singers, instrumentalists, or both- are all united in a sense of wonder and satisfaction at the beauty of the music they're creating. Never once did I feel this, or think that the characters felt this, in Whiplash. Making music didn't seem to be the ultimate goal here; rather, it was a weapon to be wielded against each other in a rather tawdry power struggle. There is no joy in, or love for music expressed in this film. Instead, it's a source of bitterness, resentment, and cruelty. In the end, that may be what I find most unlikeable about this movie.