Leo Woodall brings warmth and charisma while Dustin Hoffman delivers veteran gravitas in ‘Tuner’
By James Verniere/Boston Movie News
From Academy Award-winning documentary director Daniel Roher (“Navalny”) comes “Tuner,” a small, very well-cast, if also spotty, feature film set in New York City (“Tuner” was shot in NYC and frequently in Toronto). An offbeat romance, a crime drama, and a mismatched buddy film co-written by Roher and Robert Ramsey (“Intolerable Cruelty”), “Tuner” centers on Niki White (a very likable Leo Woodall), a piano tuner whose remarkable skills stem from his sensitive hearing. Niki has hyperacusis. He is extremely sensitive to loud noises (he wears wired pads inside his ears). Niki’s skills are in great demand in the music hub of New York City, and he learned most of what he knows from his mentor and boss, Harry Horowitz (two-time Oscar winner Dustin Hoffman), a jazz buff and former musician. Niki and Harry tool around Manhattan and environs in Harry’s van, stopping at big music halls and posh private homes alike. Harry, who likes to tease Niki and tell stories about the jazz greats he knew, plays CDs and old cassettes in the van’s stereo system. Yes, Ratso Rizzo is back in the Big Apple.
Harry’s wife Marla (New York acting legend Tovah Feldshuh) is Niki’s surrogate maternal figure. She is concerned about Harry’s health and grills him about burgers (ouch). As it turns out, Niki was once a child prodigy on the piano. He has perfect pitch, and we later learn that he has a photographic memory, too. Is he a superhero? Niki and a beautiful and gifted pianist named Ruthie (Havana Rose Liu, “Bottoms”), who is composing and preparing a piece to play before a venerable maestro (Jean Reno himself), meet cute at a concert hall. “Tuner” is into more than just jazz. Niki casually notes that Ruthie’s music is reminiscent of Ravel and Mussorgsky. Sexy classic music talk? We know that these two will meet again.
At about the same time, at a suburban mansion, Niki meets a shady character named Uri (a great, villainous turn by Lior Raz), who convinces Niki to try to open a safe. According to Uri, the mansion’s owner has lost the combination and wants the safe opened. Niki concurs, and in scenes featuring X-ray-like shots of a safe’s spinning lock mechanism, he actually opens it.
Much, perhaps too much of “Tuner” depends upon characters and viewers being gullible. The plot often requires a suspension of disbelief that may irk some viewers. Much of the dialogue is packed full of dense language about classical music. Soon, Niki both romances Ruthie and pays a suddenly stricken Harry’s expensive hospital bills by opening more safes for Uri.
Ruthie calls Niki to fix her, ahem, wet piano. Uri gives Niki and the rest of us a lesson in billionaires who made their fortunes from “predatory subprime loans” and won’t miss a few luxury watches or a stray pile of cash. Someone notes that life is a struggle to “create harmony out of chaos.” Oof.
Niki gives Ruthie a vintage Rolex with a pearl bracelet. Ruh-roh. The shameless twist on this particular plot point is almost a deal breaker. But the actors are so winning that I stayed with the film.
“Tuner” features frequent cuts to a bobble head of a young Harry on the van’s dashboard, a Herbie Hancock cameo and photos of a young Hoffman playing piano (the actor originally planned a career in music). A kiss between Niki and Ruthie is interrupted by an alarm. I’ll say. Is Ruthie going to be Niki’s future “conjugal visit?” Some thug calls the strangely gifted Niki “Rain Man.” C’mon.
Director Roher is currently filming a “romantic caper” for Netflix on the Amalfi Coast with Matthew McConaughey and Zoe Saldana as I type. His career is red hot, and “Tuner” is one reason why, in spite of the plot holes, including a homicide that is not investigated and a phone left in a fish tank.
‘Tuner’
Rating: Rated R, profanity, violence, drug use and brief nudity
Cast: Leo Woodall, Dustin Hoffman, Havana Rose Liu
Director: Daniel Roher
Writers: Roher, Robert Ramsay
Running Time: 1 hour, 49 minutes
Where to Watch: In theaters
Grade: B+
Boston Movie News 