Tuner

Tuner is a relatively simple story, and it is a film that offers no true innovations, in plot or character, but is rather about the how well it is told, rather than how cleverly. It does not try to be more than it must, and falters once or twice with coincidences that seem designed only to set up the third act. This prevents it from being a film that soars as high as it otherwise might, but what is here is largely an entertaining and lovely story about a piano tuner who finds himself at a crossroads.

Courtesy Black Bear

Niki, who works with Harry, his deceased father’s best friend, is a gifted piano tuner and partners with Harry, a former musician, in his business to work on pianos. Niki is also afflicted with hyperacusis, meaning sounds come in both exceedingly clear and exceptionally loud. To combat this, he must wear dampeners that prevent the majority of the outside world from intruding. Most films with a character like this would treat them as some sort of hermit that need to come out of their shell. Niki, though, is no hermit. He is slightly shy, but no more than the average guy. Once a promising pianist, his condition has forced him to change careers.

The first of many coincidences, and the only one that fully works in the context of the film, is his meeting and falling for Ruthie, a pianist at a conservatory, who is looking to become the assistant to a legendary composer. Along the way, though, Niki goes to a mansion to do his work and comes across an Israeli crew of thieves, who rope him into becoming their safecracker, a position at which he is very good indeed. Through this, he acquires a watch which he gifts to his new paramour. That watch then becomes the centerpiece on which the third act hangs, and it is entirely by the numbers.

Courtesy Black Bear

Yet, until that point in the film, we have seen much to recommend it. This is a film that understands its characters and works best when demonstrating moments between people that do not rely on outside forces and conveniences. The opening scenes where Niki and Harry discuss music, food and illness, are delightful in their simplicity and delineation of character, while moments like those between Niki and Ruthie as they get to know one another, are a marvel of physical acting. Not in the sense of broad movements but in the way you feel two people drawing closer, both in body and heart, through the ways the two actors choose to interact in their scenes.

This is a film where music plays a part but it is as much about want and resentment, about loss and recovery, as anything else. Unlike a work such as Whiplash, the music is even more background to the statements made about who and what these people are. Wisely, the makers of this film have chosen not to have some sneering dominating presence on one side, with an equally snotty and unlikable presence on the other. Niki is imperfect but he is someone you can relate to. The villain of the piece could nominally be the leader of his gang, yet it is really his own weakness in succumbing to pressures.

Courtesy Black Bear

In that sense, this film accomplishes what others do not, though it arrives there by a route that detracts from the impact its statement might otherwise have made. To detail why would be to spoil, but there are too many ways in which the film is designed, almost too perfectly, to have everything fall into place. For a film that thrives on what often feels like spontaneous interaction, that the last act moves into straight thriller and near Safdie brothers territory, is a disappointment. Yet, it may work for many. Even so, the film is mostly successful and often delightful. Make room to check it out.

Tuner is now playing in select theaters and opens nationwide on May 29th.