Tuner
- 3 minutes ago
- 3 min read
A clever blend of a heist film and a character study spiced with a dash of "Whiplash", TUNER is a unique ride that kept me leaning in closer from its opening frames.
Leo Woodall is Niki White, quiet young apprentice to master piano tuner Harry Horowitz, perfectly embodied by Dustin Hoffman.
Niki and Harry spend everyday bouncing around Manhattan in their aging brown van, perfectly tuning the pianos of the rich and famous in their massive estates.
Niki has hyperacusis, a condition in which everyday loud noises overwhelm his nervous system. He wears earplugs in both ears and over the ear headphones to keep everything out, but his pitch is perfect.
Horowitz treats him like an adopted son, spewing life advice and encouragement Niki's way from dawn to dusk.
Woodall (Tony, Nuremberg) and Hoffman (The Graduate, Marathon Man, so many others!) have a perfect, at ease repartee and genuine care for each other that these scenes play like a glimpse into two everyday lives buried in routine.
Two things change that routine.
Asked to tune the pianos before a major recital, Niki meets a young college post-grad composer Ruthie (a terrific Havana Rose Liu) who scoffs at Niki's interruption to her practice, but softens when the two meet again by chance at a cafe.
After Harry ends up in the hospital, Niki is alone in a massive mansion tuning a piano late at night when noise from upstairs interrupts his concentration.
Wandering upstairs, he meets a group of men who appear to be breaking into a safe in the master bedroom, but they insist they are the security company for the homeowners. When Niki opens up the safe by using his acute hearing to hear the safe's tumblers click into place, the leader of the crew, Uri (Lior Raz from Gladiator II and Underground 6) throws him a stack of bills and offers Niki a job on his Security company team's payroll.
What spins out from there is a fascinating tale that reminded me of Michael Mann's "Thief" and Damien Chazelle's "Whiplash" with Uri mentoring Niki on the seamy side of easy money.
Writer/Director Daniel Roher has a fantastic sense of visual and aural style. He immerses us into Niki's world of hearing, where loud noises render us temporarily deaf, with shouts becoming distant, muffled noises and gunshots send our world into a spinning, disorienting mix.
The music score by Will Bates is excellent as well, propulsive and immersive, while Marius de Vries supplies more traditional, but beautiful orchestral music, introducing us to composer Ruthie's work. The soundtrack is packed with jazz classics from the like of Herbie Hancock, who even makes an appearance.
The visuals are excellent, with many scenes serving up perfectly framed views into everything from wealthy stairways and living spaces to concert halls and drug dealer's claustrophobic dives. Cinematographer Lowell Meyer (Knock at the Cabin) and Roher create some jaw dropping, original visuals that knocked me out.
Nissan Sakira provides great comic relief as Benny, the most bumbling, soft member of Uri's team and Tovah Feldshuh is stellar as Harry's wife Marla, who's growing more and more concerned where Niki is earning his cash.
The final half hour is a head spinning, wild ride and Woodall is a find as Niki, creating a character you cheer for as his world careens violently, wildly out of control. He's in over his head, terrified and determined to gain back a sense of normalcy in his life, but the odds are beyond against him.
Raz is fantastic as Uri, a warm mentor one moment, a terrifying force of violence the next. It's a seductive, smart performance that resonates long after the film wraps.
I can't wait to see what Roher, Woodall and Raz do next.
Their talent is already pitch perfect and on massive display in TUNER.
It gets an A.
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