- S: Perhaps my background in music has made me extra sensitive to these issues, but there are certain aspects of the instruction, particularly measure and beat callouts and the presence of instruments in the music that aren't in the room, that are obviously unreasonable. However, even with the extreme nature of the story, the film is excellently communicated and on the whole quite reasonable.
- C: Unbelievably beautiful film. The use of color is extraordinary. I am being extremely nitpicky here, but the only issue is that there is
the occasional misalignment with the music and the on-screen instrumentation. Perfect accuracy is extremely difficult without just filming the actual players, especially
given the level of difficulty of the music involved. Although it probably goes unnoticed by the average viewer, my experience as a musician has me noticing these inconsistencies and
they do take away in some small way from the excellence of this film.
- E: This film is a masterclass in pacing. It knows exactly when to communicate an idea quickly and when to labor to make a point. The end sequence always has me standing on my feet.
- N: It's an unbelievable story of extremes which still feels relatable even to the average. The characters are so well written that they feel real from the first moment they are on screen.
- T: This film receives all five possible bonus points: one for the use of color throughout the film, one for the outstanding excellence of J.K. Simmons' performance, one for the nuance of Miles Teller's performance, one for the look on the father's face near the end, and a big one for the brilliant shots littered throughout the film: a literal and metaphorical door-opening, a hand plunging through ice, the opening shot, and the entire end sequence all are vivid moments in my mind.
This movie is so powerful to me that I feel like I could give it 100 bonus points. Almost every shot feels so powerful, This movie is an annual watch for me and one of my personal favorites.
Number of Watches: 5+
