Tuner film review: Slick and sweet
With nods to Rain Man and Thief, this debut feature about an anguished piano tuner has a strong lead while not making the most of its starry attractions
This well-calibrated crime thriller is the debut narrative feature from Canadian director Daniel Roher, who bagged the Best Documentary Oscar in 2023 for Navalny. It’s an appealingly old-fashioned portrait of a young man under unbearable pressure, throwing in familiar genre beats and heart-rending relationships. At risk of getting typecast as cocksure eye candy (as seen in the likes of White Lotus, One Day, Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy and Vladimir), rising English star Leo Woodall assumes a more introverted and psychologically anguished role here. He plays Niki White, an apprentice piano tuner and former playing prodigy, who suffers from hyperacusis, which makes him painfully sensitive to loud sounds.
Niki lives a carefully managed, deliberately quiet life under the watchful eye of elderly employer Harry (Dustin Hoffman) and his similarly nurturing wife Marla (a more benign Tovah Feldshuh, following her terrifying Nobody Wants This matriarch). When Harry is taken gravely ill, Niki must come up with the funds to pay for his treatment; he turns to safe-cracking after stumbling upon a criminal operation run by Lior Raz’s Uri and starts dating aspiring composer Ruthie (Havana Rose Liu) after fixing her practice piano.
Michael Mann’s Thief seems a likely source of inspiration, while Niki’s freakish talent recalls Rain Man, something that’s enhanced by the appearance of Hoffman. Although it’s less nail-gnawingly intense, the film’s depiction of spiralling criminality means there’s something of the Safdie brothers here too. Woodall fares better with his character than the rest of the cast. Hoffman has less to do than you’d hope and, although Liu is likeable as Ruthie, it’s a bit of a thankless girlfriend role. Lior Raz is credibly menacing as Uri, but Jean Reno’s late appearance feels far-fetched. If Tuner doesn’t dig very deep, it blends its musical and criminal themes nicely, delivering slick thrills and sweetness, whilst cementing Woodall as a star.
Tuner is in cinemas from Friday 29 May.