It’s hard to categorize the movie “Tuner.” It’s a buddy film. It’s a romance. It’s a crime drama. It’s a character study. It’s a lot of things. One thing that it isn’t, is boring.
“Tuner” is the story of Niki (Leo Woodall), a talented young man once on track to be a world-class pianist before a rare medical condition (hyperacusis) brought him down, causing him to be severely allergic to noises, particularly loud noises.
Following years of rehab and the assistance of hearing devices, Niki found himself in the loving care of Henry (Dustin Hoffman), an elderly professional piano tuner in New York City, and Henry’s wife Maria (Tovah Feldshuh). He became Henry’s assistant, applying his special musical skills to the tuning of pianos.
Businesswise, they were managing to stay afloat until Henry was rushed to an emergency room one day. Unbeknownst to him, Niki learned that Henry and his wife had been struggling with debt, not including the medical bills they would soon face. He promises Maria he will find some way to help.
Prior to Henry’s illness, Niki discovered he had a hidden talent. After Henry accidentally locked his personal safe at home and forgot the combination due to advancing dementia, Niki found that his artificially enhanced hearing, coupled with his unique piano tuning skills, could enable him to open the safe by carefully and patiently listening to the lock’s mechanical tumblers.
Soon after, Niki finds himself using his newfound skills to help some hired workers struggling to drill open a locked safe at a mansion where he has been hired to tune a grand piano. Technically, it’s safecracking, but it’s perfectly legitimate. Having saved the workers a ton of labor, they handsomely reward him for his assistance.
As you suspect, the somewhat shady-looking guys soon offer Niki an opportunity to make even more money by helping them open the safes of other rich clients, without anyone’s knowledge. They pitch the robbery scheme as a Robin Hood kind of operation, stealing from the rich — who have made their fortunes by scamming and ripping off the poor — and giving to, well, themselves.
Before long, Niki is paying off Henry’s auto loan for their work van and helping Maria with her bills. She’s grateful but concerned about where the money is coming from. Niki tells her not to worry. We know better.
As Niki becomes increasingly drawn deeper into the world of crime, he also finds himself falling in love with a talented, young concert pianist named Ruthie (Havana Rose Liu). For one brief, shining moment, everything looks sunny and optimistic for Niki in terms of money and romance, but we all know the past has a nasty way of catching up with you, particularly in the movies.
As one might expect, the small band of criminals becomes brazenly greedy based on its ever-increasing success, stemming from Nikki’s unbeatable safe-cracking skills. Having seen this story play out before in countless movies, you know things are going to get very ugly, and they do.
Watch: TUNER | Official Trailer
A criticism of “Tuner” is that much of the movie is predictable. Niki’s relationship with Henry, Niki’s romance with Ruthie, and Niki’s sinister seduction by a gang of thugs are all cookie-cutter plot elements that we can see coming a mile away.
Some twists near the end finally offer some surprises. Sadly, the biggest one is perhaps the easiest one to spot. You know what it is and you know the effect it’s going to have. Predictability is the worst part of “Tuner.”
The best part of “Tuner” isn’t so much its content as its style, in this case, a throwback treatment resembling other great crime caper movies of the past. It’s beautifully shot and briskly edited. It could be an Oscar contender for Best Editing next year.
It might also be nominated for Best Sound. The audio mixing in “Tuner” brilliantly recreates Niki’s compromised hearing, conveying what it’s like to live inside Niki’s head, hearing the world of sometimes gurgling sounds through his special audio devices and noise-canceling headphones. It’s a powerful storytelling device.
The criminals’ use of an air horn to torture Niki is as unnerving as the sound of the dentist’s drill used to torture Dustin Hoffman’s character in “Marathon Man” (1976).
Also noteworthy are the performances of Woodall, Hoffman and a strong supporting cast. Woodall serves up an emotionally complex character, a decent but damaged guy, struggling to support a friend and find love. He knowingly descends into a world of crime and punishment, with nothing but the best intentions at heart.
“Tuner” may not be a great movie, but it’s still a pretty good one thanks to performances that rise above an oftentimes predictable, less-than-perfect script. That aside, it’s still worth tuning in.
Drew’s Take:
You might not think that a movie about a piano tuner could be suspenseful or entertaining, but you’d be wrong. “Tuner” strikes all the right notes even if the song is somewhat familiar.
Be First to Comment