The Tuner | Dir: Daniel Roher | ★ ★ ★ ★ ½
Documentary maker Daniel Roher won an Oscar for his feature documentary Navalny, and now his debut fictional film follows all the textbook rules of a precision feature.
It is wonderful to see Dustin Hoffman at his grumpy best as veteran piano tuner Harry Horowitz. He is full of old-fashioned New York charm, but is losing his hearing and heading towards a heart attack as he ignores medical advice to stay away from his favourite foods.
British actor Leo Woodall (The White Lotus) takes centre stage as Nikki, Harry’s apprentice tuner who barely needs training. With dreamy looks and a tragic backstory, Nikki also has a superpower in the form of hyperacusis – a hypersensitivity to sound that gives him perfect pitch.
To heighten the emotional connection, it is clear that Harry and Nikki’s relationship is closer to that of father and son, with Harry having been a close friend of Nikki’s deceased father.
Then there is the love interest – the beautiful and talented composition student Ruthie (Havana Rose Liu), who is determined to win her final-year competition. Harry plays cupid, and sparks fly between the intellectually matched Ruthie and Nikki.
The villain arrives in the form of Uri (Lior Raz), who crosses paths with Nikki in one of the palatial mansions, where Uri is attempting to rob a safe and Nikki is tuning a piano.
Nikki opens the safe to get rid of the inept criminal gangsters so he can continue his work, and one thing leads to another, skilfully building a crescendo of conflicts and dangerous outcomes.
This is not a major reveal, as all of this is shown in the trailer. Fortunately, the film is far more than the bare outlines of a formulaic plot. The settings are magnificent, and the tempo of the pristinely shot film increases as extra close-up shots reel the audience into the action.
The film works hard to keep the audience’s sympathies with Nikki. How did these obscenely wealthy people make their money? How long before they even realise what is missing? And do they ever use that expensive piano sitting beside the swimming pool?
Even though Nikki’s motivations are to help the people around him, the arc of the script dictates that he will, at some point, get caught. The biggest question is whether the ending qualifies as contributing to a truly perfect script.
Check out the trailer for the film.
Lezly Herbert.
