Whiplash

Pitched somewhere between The School of Rock and Full Metal Jacket (Full Metal Racket, perchance), Damien Chazelle's blisteringly told tale of an aspiring jazz drummer and his bullying mentor is a hugely entertaining, refreshingly subversive take on the well-worn "inspirational teacher" theme. Miles Teller is the student jazz drummer who's promoted to the elite school band run by the foul-mouthed maestro in charge (Oscar winner JK Simmons), who drives his charges to literal blood and tears in his search for musical perfection. The supporting roles appear a tad underwritten, as Andrew's father - the reliable Paul Reiser - gets little to do other than look sympathetic to his son's travails, but that is just because they pale beside a brace of storming performances from Simmons and Teller. The former peels the wallpaper as the abusive musical drillmaster who thinks nothing of flinging furniture at his students, while Teller demonstrates he is the most promising new arrival in years. He dares to investigate the darker, less appealing facets of artistic obsession, playing the role for reality rather than likeability, which makes the barnstorming, perfectly judged ending all the more satisfying.