Directed By Daniel Roher
Starring – Leo Woodall, Dustin Hoffman, Havana Rose Liu
The Plot – A talented piano tuner’s (Woodall) meticulous skills for tuning pianos lead him to discover an unexpected aptitude for cracking safes, turning his once monotonous life upside down with the mother of all scores
Rated R for adult language throughout, some violence, drug use and brief nudity.
POSITIVES
In the very same year when Daniel Roher painted a very desolately bleak and unavoidably challenging outlook for the future involving artificial intelligence, in The A.I Doc, he charms the pants off of audiences with a feature length narrative-driven debut that is both sleekly enacted and intricately immersive as a comedy crime caper, allowing him to reinvigorate a seemingly dying heist subgenre that finds a comfortable pitch, even in reheating many of the same foundational components as some of its best offerings. For starters, Roher doesn’t skimp on the characterization, as not only are the characters in the film fleshed out with an ample allowance of humanity that grounds them in realism and affection, a feat that the performances from a stellar, stacked ensemble frequently take advantage of, but also unmistakable heart in the depths of its many intersecting dynamics, particularly those involving Niki and Henry, and Niki and Ruthie, which are each given limitless time to breathe towards finding a connective pulse with the audience. On the former, the two co-workers unofficially feel like an uncle and nephew dynamic, with impeccably written and seamlessly executed banter between them that indulged me from the very opening scene of the movie, affording meaningfully lived-in kind of chemistry that permeated effortlessly between Woodall and Hoffman, and the latter, while initially a bit rocky to interpret before its eventual sweetly sedating blossoming romance, does give way to conveying two characters who compliment each other incredibly, without any of the forcefulness and tacky emotional impulses that condemn plenty of contemporary romantic comedies from finding a disarming rhythm. In fact, Roher’s single greatest accomplishment throughout the film is that he’s able to seamlessly transition from one genre and tone to the next, without any semblance of abrasive outlining to the detected emotionality from which they spawn, and in beginning as a buddy comedy, following as a romantic drama, before finishing as an action thriller, Roher takes us on an emotional roller-coaster with these characters, in ways that intuitively has us hoping for the best in each of them, even as the irresponsible actions from Niki obviously paves the way for darker days ahead for these aforementioned foundational components. Beyond a cleverly enticing script and sturdily stoic direction from Roher, the film is blessed with some of the best technical aspects that flourish fiercely in the movie’s presentation, such as boldly immersive sound design and razor sharp editing, which capture and maintain your attention throughout the movie’s most urgently invigorating sequences throughout the film. Being that Niki has a condition that basically leaves him sensitive to loud noises, there’s an opportunity to utilize this gimmick to the degree that Sound of Metal did for its deaf protagonist, but while the two films share a commonality in the handicap of their respective protagonists, Tuner takes the dimensionality of this dissection to a whole other level, with environmental aspects that each play so versatile to us interpreting what Niki is feeling during these inescapably tense and vulnerable sequences, with no two sounds captivities ever feeling the same with one another, and a sensitively articulated rhythmic patterns that ratchets up the tension and suspense of the established chaos, leaving nothing to chance in capturing the debilitating conflict that leaves Niki at such a dreaded disadvantage among his peers. As for the editing, what Greg O’Bryant articulates in the overlapping flows and dazzling transitions in the passage of time and perspective of characters, is nothing short of Oscar-worthy brilliance, especially in those urgent moments continuously deviating between the internal gears of a safe and those involved on the outside awaiting its many treasures, and considering it coincides with a smoothly serene jazz score from Will Bates and Marius De Vries, constantly tickling the ivories, it gifts such an elegantly suave personality in the correspondence between audio and visuals, appraising such an irreplaceable value from everyone involved in the production, who truly make the pacing throughout this 104-minute runtime feel so cylindric. The music praises are also shared by Leo Woodall and Havana Rose Liu, who each took six months of piano classes, in order to effectively portray believably accomplished pianists able to perform in real-time for the film, at the drop of a hat. While this is undeniably a remarkable feat in its own right, you truly don’t understand the magnitude of it until you experience the long-winded and tediously energetic compositions that are asked of each of them throughout such distinct character-building moments within their expansive growth, and considering that Whiplash executed this very same feat to perfection with Miles Teller and his drum playing, Tuner is in great company to share any kind of creative undertaking with that aforementioned Oscar-nominated film, leaving me astonished by the level of commitment that Woodall and Liu make to their mesmerizingly radiant performances. On that very subject, Woodall, Liu, and even Dustin Hoffman, each brandish an endless amount of charmingly charisma and stirring soul to their respective portrayals, without anything even closely resembling a detracting weakest link between them. Woodall cements a breakthrough turn into the stratosphere that is equal parts brooding and vulnerable, capturing Niki’s fragile psyche as he struggles to redefine who he is without the limitless talents that he once had, and with the chemistry between he and Liu feeling warmly revitalizing and unforced, it unsurprisingly becomes the emotional underlining of the story’s direction, serving as the surmising drive and determination factor for Niki to involve himself in a life of crime, in order to appeal to Ruthie materially. Hoffman is also a breath of commanding fresh air as Henry, despite a much more reduced allowance of opportunistic screentime compared to his leading peers, with his dependable charisma and impeccable comedic timing frequently elevating the already effective material, in turn leaving me yearning for more time in this work van and surrounding this intoxicating friendship between he and Niki, the likes of which craft such an alluring hook to squeeze investment out of the audience, long before any of the pivotal arcs start to take shape in the movie’s momentum.
NEGATIVES
While Tuner is a sizzling symphony of spectacle in production and performances, that captivate an audience, its pitch is far from perfect in the extent of its overall execution, particularly in the abundance of genre-heavy tropes in its structural outline, which keeps this movie from playing out in ways that are anything but unexpected. Considering the script vividly fleshes out the aforementioned character dynamics towards feeling so integral to the movie’s momentum, it’s a bit disappointing that the crime aspects feel so rudimentary and by-the-numbers, especially with antagonist supporting characters that are every bit the one-dimensional architypes for such heavily predictable outlines, even with the editing and sound design working overtime to trigger some semblance of tension to scenes that transpire so frequently without error. Such examples occur in some situational contrivances that emerge as a result of some unforeseen logical leaps that spawn from this idea of robbing to the rich to alleviate the conflicts for the poor, specifically the first robbery of the movie, which we’re led to believe our thieves will effectively evade because rich people are too wealthy to ever realize when a valuable is missing. This isn’t a problem if its captured with some semblance of creativity or inventiveness from Niki or his gang of thugs, but fingerprints or household cameras are glossed over with a complete level of ignorance that requires the script to adapt illogically to resolve it, and it leaves the inferior second half feeling noticeably bare in its creative outline, especially since it falls for more of the same flaws as its lackadaisical predecessors, a look that doesn’t fare well for a movie with so much style and substance already going for it. In addition to an abundance of tropes, the film’s third act nearly sinks the movie’s stimulating success level, as a result of a contrived climax that sacrifices its craft and directing cadence for an ending that will inevitably leave audiences divided.. It starts with a third act twist that comes out of nowhere, involving a character whom we’re meeting for the first time, almost as a result of Roher realizing that his movie full of stimulating style lacks any semblance of stakes to endear audiences on the edge of their seats, in turn tacking on a last second conflict that not only alienates the charms of nearly everything that came before it, but also grinds the previously smooth and seamless pacing towards feeling like the movie is starting to overstay its welcome, leaving us with a hard-to-swallow sour ending that took a few too many opportunities to humble its characters.
OVERALL
Tuner is a finely tuned dazzler of a narrative-driven directorial debut for Daniel Roher, whose tonal-absorbing, technical-enamoring crime caper is charming enough to appeal to a big audience, even as the pitch of its profound climax feels anything but perfect. Despite the flaws of its frazzled finale, the film is aided tremendously by immersive soundscapes and the quietly cool calm before the storm of Leo Woodall’s star-making turn, allowing it to strike a substantially stimulating chord in its finished product, with enough playful personality and emotionality to stand tall on any stage.
My Grade: 7.6 or B