‘Tuner’ Finds Rhythm in Crime and Romance
Few crime dramas can be found with as much rhythm and style as “Tuner.” It would be difficult to find an apt comparison for what this film offers, but it feels like a unique amalgamation of “The Sound of Metal,” Baby Driver, and “Whiplash.” The film follows a piano tuner with a condition that makes him extremely sensitive to sound. He discovers this gives him a knack for safe-cracking. Circumstances force him to join a criminal underworld that pays well, but he quickly finds himself being exploited for his talents. The film’s constant jazzy rhythm gives it a sense of unpredictability. Featuring a cast and crew of many up-and-comers, “Tuner” shows an impressive grasp of exciting pacing, stylistic tone, and well-written characters.
“Tuner” opens with the typical workday of uncle-nephew duo Niki (Leo Woodall) and Harry (Dustin Hoffman) as they tune pianos and banter. Harry is a tenured jazz musician that serves more as a mentor to Niki than as a helpful piano tuner, since he needs hearing aids to hear. Niki on the other hand suffers from hyperacusis, a rare and debilitating condition that makes him extremely sensitive to sound. It requires Niki to wear earplugs and noise-cancelling headphones just to get through the day. Harry reminisces that Niki could have been a piano virtuoso, but the condition forced him to abandon his greatest talent due to the pain it causes him to play.
While tuning pianos by himself, Niki meets Ruthie (Havana Rose Liu). The two have a rocky start, as Ruthie is annoyed by the interruption his tuning causes during her piano practice at the music conservatory, but Niki is clearly interested in her. However, everything changes for Niki when Harry has a stroke and is hospitalized. Out of love for how much his mentor has sacrificed for him, Niki commits himself to helping with Harry’s medical bills. As he struggles to put a dent into the debt by tuning pianos, one night when he’s working, he hears a commotion and finds people breaking into his client’s safe. With Niki’s sensitive hearing, he had been able to crack a safe before to get Harry’s hearing aids for him. He offers to help these strangers crack the safe and they pay him far more than he would make tuning pianos. With the pressure of helping Harry and uncertainty about his future, Niki decides to team up with these criminals to crack more safes.
