Tuner

"Tuning a piano is about creating harmony out of chaos, and to do that you've got to be comfortable with imperfection." A piano tuner (Leo Woodall) with sensitive hearing discovers he has a talent for safe cracking. He starts work for an Israeli crime syndicate to pay for his mentor’s (Dustin Hoffmann) medical bills. What starts as an amusing buddy comedy turns into a rom-com, then crime caper, then mutates into a full-blown quite harrowing thriller. It sounds tonally confused but somehow isn’t—there’s no swerving between styles here but more of a slow and horrid progression into a crime underworld. It’s a great film, Woodall gives a quiet, powerful performance in contrast to Hoffmann’s charming louder-than-life character, and Havana Rose Liu provides a wonderful romantic interest. I like how their romance plays out, it’s awkward and not an instant spark but it does have a little tinge of Hollywood schmaltz in there. I can’t say I walked out of the cinema thinking this was a sweet…