Item: Whiplash
Rating: 7
Author: Alex Maidy

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Plot: Once a celebrated jazz pianist in New York, Elliot Udo is now the co-owner of struggling club The Eddy, where he manages the house band fronted by lead singer and on-again-off-again girlfriend Maja. As Elliot learns that his business partner Farid may be involved in some questionable practices at the club, secrets begin to come to light and his personal and professional worlds quickly start to unravel as he confronts his past, fighting to save the club and protect those closest to him.

Review: In his directorial career, Damien Chazelle has shown his love of music. Of his four films to date, two have been musicals and one has been about music education. It is even known that Chazelle's first jobs in Hollywood as a writer on films such as THE LAST EXORCISM PART II, GRAND PIANO, and 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE as a way to finance his passion project, LA LA LAND. Several Academy Award nominations and a Best Director win later, Chazelle's latest project brings him back to the world of jazz music, but in a much different context than his Oscar winning film. The Eddy is an international production that looks at the grittier side of club and band life with some memorable music and some stellar performances that take full advantage of the Paris landscape. But, the series falls a little flat, probably due to too many notes.

Created by Jack Thorne (HBO's His Dark Materials), only the first two episodes of The Eddy were directed by Chazelle with the remaining six helmed by Houda Benyamina (DIVINES), Laila Marrakchi (ROCK THE CASBAH), and Alan Poul (HBO's The Newsroom). With a cast of primarily European performers, including COLD WAR's Joanna Kulig, The Eddy features Andre Holland and Amandla Stenberg in major roles. From the trailers, you may be led to believe that this is an English-language drama set in Paris, but this is truly a French production blended with English and Arabic dialogue peppered throughout. While some of you may be turned off by subtitles, The Eddy does have a lot of original music from composers Glen Ballard and Randy Kerber that needs no translation.

The Eddy follows jazz musician Elliott and his partner Farid who own the titular nightclub. Business is slow and finances are tight when it becomes clear that Farid may be involved with some sketchy individuals. Elliott, a renowned trumpet player, used to be involved romantically with singer Maja who headlines at the club. The close knit bandmates have worked together for a while and when tragedy ultimately hits them, they unite under their musical connections to try and persevere. I know, it sounds fairly generic and not terribly original and The Eddy really isn't all that unique. From the opening scene of the first episode, Damien Chazelle imbues The Eddy with a documentary style that makes it feel as realistic as possible and Jack Thorne's dialogue is delivered very naturally by the cast. Chazelle's use of a verite style fits the French setting but there is just so much walking and talking that the episodes begin to drag and feel redundant.

The first two episodes each clock in at just under 70 minutes, making them feel like feature films on their own, but with the story stretching over eight chapters, not much actually happens in these extended running times. There are multiple scenes showing Andre Holland or Amanda Stenberg walking through The Eddy as the camera follows and whips around to give us a quick glimpse of the hustle in the club before whipping back to follow the characters through the space. The camera moves shakily around and lingers on the musical performers, giving The Eddy a feel that blends the edge of WHIPLASH with the musical reverence of LA LA LAND. As I continued through the entire eight episode series, the aesthetic introduced by Damien Chazelle is implemented by the other three directors as each episode gives us insight into various characters in the ensemble cast while furthering the main storyline.

The Eddy is at once very cliche and familiar. Characters make stupid decisions, albeit very human ones that you and I would make ourselves, all while stereotypical narrative elements like drug deals and criminal enterprises are mixed in. The Eddy is far more successful when it shows us the lives of these various characters in their day to day lives, but it is far too banal for over eight hours of storytelling. So little actual story is told that the scenes begin to feel redundant and you just want to know how it all ends. The natural way the characters switch between English, French, and Arabic is a nice touch and sometimes it doesn't even feel like these are actors, but that also means there should be some more immediacy to what is happening.

There are some great musical moments in The Eddy but there are many more that feel flat and repetitive. There are also great performances, especially from the underrated Andre Holland, but there are many more that are given much more screen time than they deserve. All four filmmakers do a nice job with The Eddy, but Jack Thorne's story is too thin to warrant this many episodes. You will find resolution if you sit through the entire series, but you will have to wade through a lot to get there. I wanted to like The Eddy a lot more than I did and that is mostly because I really like Damien Chazelle as a filmmaker. Unfortunately, this is several stories that work better on their own in a narrative that could have been condensed into a third of the time it takes.

The Eddy premieres May 8th on Netflix.