One of the best acting performances of the past decade has landed on Netflix

‘There are no two words in the English language more harmful than “good job”.’

The movie was recently added to Netflix and is one that comes highly recommended from us. You may be watching some of the scenes through the cracks of your fingers – a few are über tense – but it is richly rewarding.

This is what our very own Stephen Porzio wrote about the Damien Chazelle drama, on JOE, last year:

Simmons is a revelation as the conductor, Terence Fletcher – switching from amiable and supportive to vindictive, highly personal and ruthless in his methods. Aged 59 when the movie went into production, the Michigan native was pure class in one of the best roles any actor could wish to get. He had made his TV debut, as an actor, in 1986 and picked up a lot of supporting character work, in TV and cinema, during the 1990s.

J.K Simmons’ Oscar speech after winning for Whiplash

Whiplash won three Oscars at the 2015 Academy Awards ceremony, for editing, sound mixing and a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for J.K Simmons.

Simmons was up against some real heavyweights in his category, including Robert Duvall, Ethan Hawke, Mark Ruffalo and Edward Norton. His victory came on the heels of awards for the same role at the Screen Actors Guild and Golden Globe ceremonies. After thanking his ‘above-average children’ and his wife, Michelle Schumacher, he commented:

If I may, call your mom, everybody. I’ve told this [to], like, a billion people, or so.

Call your mom, call your dad. If you’re lucky enough to have a parent or two alive on this planet, call ‘em. Don’t text. Don’t email. Call them on the phone. Tell ‘em you love ‘em, and thank them, and listen to them for as long as they want to talk to you. Thank you. Thank you, Mom and Dad.

As for the director and screenwriter, you should know him, too. Damien Chazelle expanded the idea for Whiplash from a short film he made, and was nominated for an adapted screenplay Oscar. He went on to enjoy great success with La La Land, which then allowed him to get the green light to write and direct Babylon, starring Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie and Tobey Maguire.

For those without a Netflix subscription, you can rent it on the Sky Store or Rakuten or stream on Apple TV (rent or watch for free by signing up for a trial period).

Related links:

One of the funniest movies of the last few years gets second chance on Netflix

Fans of Kin urged to watch gritty gangland drama labelled ‘best Irish show of all time’