Tuner

Directed by Daniel Roher, Tuner follows a professional piano tuner (Leo Woodall’s Niki White) as he turns to crime after his mentor (Dustin Hoffman’s Harry) is hospitalized. There’s little doubt, ultimately, that Tuner fares best within its brisk and entertaining opening stretch, as Roher, armed with his and Robert Ramsey’s screenplay, does a terrific job of establishing Woodall and Hoffman’s respective characters and their irresistible chemistry together – with the appealing atmosphere heightened by the tentative relationship that forms between Niki and an ambitious music student (Havana Rose Liu’s Ruthie). It’s disappointing to note, then, that Tuner slowly-but-surely wears out its welcome as it progresses, with the growing emphasis on Niki’s criminal escapades and his association with less-than-savory types paving the way for a repetitive, one-note second half. Woodall’s strong performance does, at least, ensure that the movie remains watchable even during its far-from-gripping stretches, but the inclusion of a few overtly conventional elements within the third act (eg the dreaded fake breakup) results in a anticlimactic (and kind of endless) finish – with the end result a fairly disappointing misfire that feels like it should be a whole lot better.

** out of ****