JK Simmons is the serious, dominating personality, and often abusive director of the top jazz group at one of the top music schools in the country. Miles Teller is the drummer pursuing excellence, wanting to be THE next jazz great. Put these two together and Teller is willing to take any abuse to get to what he perceives as the next level. While Simmons is great in this role, demonstrating a fierce commitment to excellence and instilling fear in all of his players, that is not enough to make this a great film. In the end, it was too surface. Push the kid hard, push the kid too hard, blow up, reconnect, get revenge, a glimpse of a smile makes it all worth while. I mean, really? In no way is that satisfactory. It can't really all be better. And if it is not, then the film is leaving too much on the table. In many ways, the great performances in these roles is lost on a cliche story/script. Sorry.
3 stars (out of 5)
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