Critic Reviews
89
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
positive
49(98%)
mixed
1(2%)
negative
0(0%)
Showing 50 Critic Reviews
Jan 22, 2014
100
However genius may flourish, you know it when you see it, and Whiplash is it.
Jan 22, 2014
100
Chazelle proves an exceptional builder of scenes, crafting loaded, need-to-succeed moments that grab our attention and hold it tight.
May 21, 2014
100
Although a couple of narrative twists late on threaten to drum us into melodrama, Chazelle never misses a beat and the film builds to a cathartic crescendo.
Oct 8, 2014
100
The script and Simmons, known for TV’s “The Closer” and as tantrum-tossing editor J. Jonah Jameson in “Spider-Man,” make Fletcher a monster, and then look for ways of explaining him.
Oct 8, 2014
100
If you can appreciate the sight of two totally dialed-in performers simmering until they boil over, that's enough. And P.S., that's pretty much the definition of jazz.
Oct 8, 2014
100
More "Full Metal Jacket" than "Dead Poet’s Society," the film is an epic battle of wills between two fanatical artists, one doing everything in his power to painfully make a master out of the other.
Oct 9, 2014
100
The exhilarating, inventive and suspenseful story hinges on a pair of commanding performances.
Oct 9, 2014
100
It also happens to feature a pair of performances that eclipse all else around them.
Oct 9, 2014
100
It is one of those scorching films that burns through emotions, uses up actors, wrings out audiences. And the jazz, well, it has its own moments of brutal, breathtaking fusion.
