Review: Daniel Roher’s TUNER – One Of The Best Films You’ll See This Year
Daniel Roher’s Tuner is an expertly crafted thriller that features a finely honed balance of humour, drama and tension. Leo Woodall makes for an excellent lead, delivering a strong performance as the film’s titular Tuner (of the piano persuasion). Meanwhile, Dustin Hoffman heads-up an impressive supporting cast that features Havana Rose Liu, Lior Raz, Tovah Feldshuh and Jean Reno. Written by Roher and co-writer Robert Ramsey, this classically styled piece delivers the goods in a way that few films have in recent times. This is classy entertainment that never feels like it’s pandering – it treats its audience with respect.
Woodall is Niki, a piano tuner apprentice to Harry Horowitz (Hoffman) who suffers from Hyperacusis – a condition which makes him hyper-sensitive to noise. When Harry accidentally locks his hearing aid in a safe, Niki discovers that his unique condition means that he has the skills to crack safes due to the sensitivity of his hearing. A chance encounter with Lior Raz’s Uri gives Niki a financial life-line when he needs it most after Harry falls ill. However, his life of crime also coincides with meeting and falling in love with Ruthie (Havana Rose Liu), a student pianist working towards her graduation. These elements converge as Niki attempts to balance his day job as a tuner, a safecracker at night and a boyfriend to Ruthie.
It feels wrong to praise Tuner for its simplicity, but that’s what makes the film so great. Roher has crafted a film which sets out its stall in the first few moments and then gives the viewer exactly what it promised: a well written, expertly acted and wholly satisfying thriller. This is the type of film that Hollywood used to make by the dozen – but unfortunately (the good ones at least) have become something of a rarity. To see and feel the textures of New York City used to be a common occurrence in movies, but again it’s now a rare sight. The world of Tuner is alive, vibrant and dangerous. Even the intricacies of piano tuning is delivered in a way which feels engaging to the untrained eye (and ear). These small moments all add up to something larger and more important.
It’s not hyperbole to say that this really feels like a star-making turn for Leo Woodall. He’s excellent here, ably going scene-for-scene with an old pro like Dustin Hoffman without giving an inch. Woodall’s performance has the right amount of frailty to go alongside his downtrodden everyman. It’s a lowkey but charismatic turn that helps involve the audience in the character’s morally dubious actions. You want him to succeed. Hoffman is great as always, but the rest of the cast rise to the challenge too. Havana Rose Liu is a fully rounded love interest who helps drive the plot, while Tovah Feldshuh has plenty of chutzpah as Hoffman’s long suffering wife. Even Lior Raz’s Uri and his gang of miscreants come across as well balanced humans and not just cut out villains.
Music and sound is central to Tuner and Max Behrens’ sound design brilliantly illustrates Niki’s condition, which ranges from the deftly silent clicks of a safe tumbler, to the chaotic cacophony of the city at large or the deafening sound of a klaxon. The music by Will Bates and Marius De Vries adds additional layers. It’s music that helps propel plot, while adding to the character. Bates keep the onscreen action moving along, while De Vries’ work doubles for Ruthie’s compositions – which helps to soundtrack the film’s climatic moments. There’s also a well timed use of Nina Simon’s Sinnerman – which notes John McTiernan’s The Thomas Crown Affair. That 1999 Pierce Brosnan/Rene Russo film was another New York set romantic thriller based around the world of high class thievery. The two films echo each other like a cinematic call and response across a 27 year age gap in a way that feels timeless.
Thoroughly entertaining, Tuner has all the elements of a modern classic that will be watched and enjoyed for years to come. Some may argue that it has an over-reliance on coincidence, but many great stories call on chance to help with plot machinations. At the end of the day, Tuner is excellent – and I really can’t recommend it enough.
