Tuner
review by Bobby Blakey
As someone who has hearing issues myself, I am always intrigued when a film delves into different aspects of the affliction. The latest film, Tuner, does just that in a different way and features a great cast including Leo Woodall, Havana Rose Liu, Lior Raz, Tovah Feldshuh and Dustin Hoffman from director by Daniel Roher. Could this film manage to be tuned in the right direction, or will it fail to hit the right note?
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Tuner follows a gifted young piano tuner Niki, whose heightened sense of hearing draws the attention of criminals, who see his talents as useful for opening safes as for tuning Steinways. With his once-promising musical career over, he works across New York with his mentor Harry Horowitz, encountering a range of characters, including composition student Ruthie, with whom he forges an unexpected connection. Niki’s safecracking work threatens his budding romance with Ruthie and pulls him into increasingly dangerous territory.
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Initially I didn’t have a lot of interest in this one, but once I saw the latest trailer I became instantly intrigued. Funny enough though the film didn’t end up being completely what I thought it was going to be but not in a bad way. The story is simple and leans into a smart way for them to not only make his hearing issue front and center but make it something that he uses to his advantage despite it being a painful existence. There are essentially three different films here with the piano tuners’ work and the struggles in their lives, the budding love story and the unwanted dive into the world of crime due to unforeseen circumstances. All these slam into each other as one cohesive story while each still being their own thing.
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The film hinges on the performance of Woodall, and he carries it to perfection. Hoffman is fantastic as well with the best scenes of the film being these two guys
just chatting it up, riffing and working together. I could have just watched these two guys for the entirety of the film, but it’s also the reason you feel his desperation to do what he does and why. Sadly, we just don’t get enough of Hoffman here despite him being a major catalyst to the story. It’s no cameo or anything just sidelined within the story by necessity to move things forward.
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The love story here is fused with music and is decent enough. It’s nothing we haven’t seen before but unfolds in a way that once again grounds the story and Niki’s journey. Even when he falls into the wrong direction you never get the feeling, he is a bad person or trying to use anyone, hence his decisions and relationship a stronger and makes you hope for him to come out of all this on top even though you know there is no way.
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When it delves into the criminal underworld of sorts it is an interesting direction that is less violent and sleezy and more like a family, at first. As expected, it doesn’t go well and gets more violent than I expected that once again grounds the film in some reality. There is some slow pacing here and there and it’s not an overly exciting film but works as a good drama/thriller thanks to great performances and realism that is relatable on some level. The ending is a perfect cap to everything that came before it in all its sadness and happiness infusion.
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Decide for yourself and check out Tuner in limited release now and expanding nationwide on May 29th from Black Bear.