‘Tuner’: Leo Woodall and Dustin Hoffman Are a Winning Team in Vibrant Crime Caper

Sandra Miska

A heightened sense of hearing is both a blessing and a curse for Leo Woodall in the crime thriller “Tuner,” the first narrative feature from Oscar-winning documentarian Daniel Roher. Woodall stars as Niki White, an apprentice who works alongside kindhearted veteran piano tuner Harry Horowitz (Dustin Hoffman). After Harry, who is not only his boss but also a beloved lifelong family friend, ends up in the hospital, Niki turns to criminal activities in order to keep the business afloat and help Harry’s wife, Marla (Tovah Feldshuh) with mounting medical bills. 

Piano tuning is a profession that requires great skill, but is underappreciated by Niki and Harry’s upscale clients, who see them as glorified handymen. One woman even asks them if they mind fixing her toilet on their way out. Most of these rich people have their grand pianos for mere decoration, which is a tragedy to Niki, as he himself is a talented pianist who can no longer play due to his condition, hyperacusis. It is on the job that he finds a kindred spirit in Ruthie (Havana Rose Liu), a music student and aspiring composer. After some nudging from charming Harry, the two strike up a romance.

After Harry accidentally locks his hearing aids in a safe, he asks Niki to save them, and after watching some YouTube videos, the young man learns he has a knack for breaking into safes. Later, after Harry is hospitalized, Niki encounters a group of thieves attempting to rob a client at one of his jobs. In order to get them to leave so he can finish his work in peace, he opens the safe for them. This leads to a job offer from their leader, Uri (Lior Raz), which he reluctantly comes to accept.

Overall, “Tuner” is an enjoyable watch with an old-school feel. The performances, especially from Woodall and Hoffman, are pitch perfect. As Harry is incapacitated early on, Woodall is left to anchor the rest of the film, and he succeeds with his thoughtful and understated acting. As hard as Niki tries to compartmentalize the different parts of his life, it is only a matter of time before everything catches up to him. A downside here is that a lot of the beats are predictable, one would anticipate in a film about an otherwise decent person who gets sucked into a life of crime. There is even the obligatory scene in which the main bad guy, Uri, gives a speech about how they are doing a good deed by robbing a capitalist “dick” who profits off the suffering of those less privileged. Of course, the deeper Niki gets, the more blurry the whole situation becomes.

In many crime thrillers, the romance is usually an underdeveloped subplot, but the most satisfying scenes in “Tuner” are actually the ones in which Niki and Ruthie grow closer. Seeing the future she has in front of her as a musician forces him to think about his own sad fate and what could have been for him. Early on, he attempts to define the relationship by gifting her an antique watch from one of the safes. This unwise decision eventually leads to his two worlds colliding in a major way, and an emotional conclusion that hits the right note.

“Tuner” releases May 22 in select theaters, May 29 nationwide.