One of the biggest - and most pleasant - surprises when it was time for the Academy to announce the nominees for Best Picture 2015 was the film that gave JK Simmons his first Golden Globe last Sunday, but what are the "Whiplash" reviews saying about the actor's groundbreaking performance?
After winning the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor, JK Simmons seems to be on the road to becoming a favorite for the Oscar in that same category, for which he was just recently nominated last Thursday, and the "Whiplash" reviews definitely put the veteran character actor as the frontrunner to get the biggest film award there is.
According to The Independent's "Whiplash" review, JK Simmons' performance as Shaffer Conservatory conductor Terence Fletcher is referred to as having achieved "ferocious, barbed intensity," as he plays the most ruthless teacher in a jazz academy - in a rare film that barely touches upon classic jazz movie themes, like drugs, sex and a whole of cigarette smoking.
In the meantime, The Irish Times' "Whiplash" review states that JK Simmons' performance deserves all the acclaim it's been getting along with the award love, and perhaps even more.
As the paper recounts how the film was first released in last year's biggest Independent Film Festival, Sundance, it goes on to explain the relationship between his character and Andrew, the film's protagonist, a young kid who wants to learn how to be a jazz drummer from the very best and, while the ruthless teacher seems to be the Mr. Miyagi to his Daniel, though in the end the man becomes much more ruthless than anyone had previously imagined.
"JK Simmons is brilliant at Fletcher's scariest rehearsal mannerism: demanding that an errant pupil stop playing immediately by raising his hand and clenching his fist, like a Roman emperor signaling for someone to be decapitated," said The Guardian in its "Whiplash" review. Things are definitely looking great for the "Spider-Man" actor!
