An early trailer for Daniel Roher’s Tuner (Black Bear, 5.22) suggested it was some kind of socially complex two-hander about a pair of piano tuners (Leo Woodall as the apprentice, Dustin Hoffman as the old veteran).
Well, it’s not that. It’s all Woodall, for one thing — Hoffman’s role amounts to a bit more than a cameo but only that. It is, however, my idea of an above-average, character-driven crime thriller with a believable romantic relationship on the side.
Tuner is a solid B-plus — a pressurized crime thriller that starts out in a moderate-amiable vein but gradually becomes more and more of a blend of (a) Michael Mann’s Thief, (b) Karel Reisz’s The Gambler (in a moralistic sense —- Woodall’s protagonist isn’t a gambler) and (c) Darius Marder’s Sound of Metal.
Woodall is Niki, a gifted piano tuner (he has exceptional musical ears, knows all the notes and piano keys) as well as a grade-A safe-cracker (also due to exceptional hearing). He’s burdened, however, with a sensitive hearing condition (hyperacusis). He’s also a brilliant piano virtuoso whose super-sensitivity to strong sound prevents him from playing.
Niki soon feels compelled to work with a team of coarse Israeli thieves out of financial necessity (the aging Hoffman, his piano-tuning uncle, is deeply in debt after a heart attack), but he can’t deal with their crude, heavy-handed behavior and eventually runs afoul.
Niki also hooks up with a beautiful Asian girlfriend (Havana Rose Liu), a skillful concert pianist who composes her own stuff.
Pic becomes too brutally violent toward the end, and the ugliest, crudest and most animalistic character — Lior Yaz’s Yuri, the leader of the thieving Israeli brutes — isn’t punished or disiplined in any way for behaving viciously toward Niki. Audiences always want justice — one way or another the bad guy should always be slapped down.
I basically liked Tuner much more before the Israeli pigs muscled their way onto the narrative.