historyman1969

About 15 minutes in, the sadistic, autocratic jazz (?!) instructor played by J.K. Simmons screams, berates and belittles a trombone player for being out of tune, kicks him out of the class, then confesses that the student wasn't really out of tune. That's when I walked out. My time is too precious for unrealistic crap like this. My first thought was how could such an individual get into a position of authority without students, parents, and co-workers all filing harassment complaints against him! It's just not believable. And then there's the fact that he's teaching jazz -- one of the most un-strict musical genres out there -- the whole point of jazz is spontaneity, improvisation, a willingness to BE imperfect -- I could believe an authoritarian conductor in classical music, but not in jazz.

Examination of gender and class roles is stunningly photographed -- the cinematography of the French Alps is breathtaking -- but the characters and story eventually becomes boring and uninvolving, and the movie makes several illogical leaps in the final stages, along with a few too many endings.