Tuner

“you’d be surprised how loud the world is.” wow. who would have thought the mystery movie on a random monday in may would be my favorite film of the year? tuner is a film that connected to me and hit all the right notes more than anything i’ve seen this year. not only that, it is hands down the most i have sweat in a movie theater seat in a while. combining the pure adrenaline of safe cracking with the beauty and composition of music, striking a balance most films dream of achieving, tuner is a must-see. right out of the gate: what a cast. niki, played by leo woodall, gives an astounding lead performance that demands your attention and carries a level of charisma that is just infectious. he plays a piano tuner with severe hearing sensitivity that discovers he has a knack for safe cracking, inevitably leading to dangerous people and major consequences with the criminal underworld. havana rose liu plays ruthie, a prodigy pianist that is the beating heart of the film. her firm, driven, yet playful chemistry with woodall is fantastic. you absolutely buy into their developing romance and i have not seen an on-screen spark like this in quite a while. dustin hoffman, while a small role, devours his time on screen and proves why he will always be one of the greats. effortlessly charming and emotive. “it’s not about hearing, it’s a feeling.” the real stars of the film however are the editing and sound design. the word that immediately comes to mind is “slick”. everything so frantic yet it has a groove to it. every single time niki opened a safe, i was fully locked in and captivated by the wonderfully visualized safe and piano mechanisms. director daniel roher intentionally has piano and locks as two sides of the same coin and masterfully plays with the complex algorithms and beauty of both. i can’t even begin to describe what feelings this film evoked from me. i am immediately thinking of a particular moment where my heart fully sank and i felt the sweat pouring down the side of my face. and it wasn’t even involving criminals. i think what blew me away was how confidently the film embraced conventions of the crime/thriller genre and just perfects them. the sound design is just impeccable. niki’s disability is conveyed through the sound design and you as the viewer are fully immersed in his world. the muffled, normal, and piercing sounds all evoke reactions here and when you throw in that jazz score, everything is elevated to degree unseen in anything i’ve seen recently. and man what an ending. the release of emotion and bittersweet catharsis that concludes tuner is some of the most moving and effective this year. just a terrific film that knows the message and themes at its core and fully follows through with them. i am still recovering from the high that this film gave me and i am itching to catch it again when it fully releases in a couple of weeks. no notes. “some ahole walks me to class in g minor.”**