Some of the most surprising movies I’ve ever seen are the ones I watched without knowing anything about them beforehand. In fact, I wouldn’t have ended up watching some of them if I had read about them first, because I would have discovered a plot point or trope that wasn’t to my liking.
The biggest surprise of this year for me was Tuner, an independent movie directed by the young, Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Daniel Roher. I initially decided to watch it because I love Dustin Hoffman and assumed it was a film about music. Had I known it was actually a heist movie, I would’ve postponed it or skipped it entirely, as it is one of my least favorite subgenres.
The movie follows Niki White (Leo Woodall), a young man who was a piano virtuoso and prodigy as a child. After developing hyperacusis, a rare hearing condition causing extreme, painful sensitivity to everyday sounds, he was unable to pursue a musical career and was taken under the wing of master piano tuner Harry Horowitz (Dustin Hoffman). Due to Harry’s age-related confusion and Niki’s own hearing disorder, Niki ends up discovering an unusual ability to open safes just by listening to the mechanical movements inside the locks.
Soon after, Harry is hospitalized, and his wife confesses that they are struggling to pay the medical bills. Desperate to help, Niki takes a dangerous turn after a chance encounter with a group of Israeli criminals. Using their security company as a front to break into the safes of wealthy clients, they enlist Niki and his newly discovered talent, pulling him into a life of crime so he can repay his benefactors.
While the plot about a decent guy turning to crime to save his loved ones has been used time and time again, Tuner showcases it in a refreshing way. The criminals Niki meets are not the typical, tough, streetwise thugs you usually see in these thrillers. In fact, they treat Niki with respect and accommodate his condition, as long as he’s willing to crack the safes for them.
The film also presents a love story that gradually develops between Niki and Ruthie, a young pianist he meets through his job as a piano tuner. While a romance is nothing new for this genre, the sweetness of their story and the genuine way the characters connect make their romance stand out from those in other heist movies.
Two of the most impressive things about Tuner are the dialogue and the use of sound. The character interactions feel perfectly in sync, natural, and at times wonderfully verbose, especially in the scenes with Dustin Hoffman. In fact, the way the lines were written feels almost like music, as they seem to have a rhythm of their own. And while Dustin Hoffman brings a comedic, fast-paced eccentricity to Harry, Leo Woodall plays Niki with a quieter, internal vulnerability. Their scenes together are like free jazz and classical piano music colliding in perfect synchronicity.
Aside from a soundtrack carefully tailored to each scene and how they flow into each other, I found it truly fascinating how Roher shifts between absolute silence and overwhelming noise to show how the environment affects Niki. Roher’s choice to amplify mundane sounds, such as a dog barking, a car horn, or a raised voice, portrays the character’s distress at the constant threat of the world around him. Niki’s hyperacusis is an essential part of how he experiences the world, and the very thing that gives him his extraordinary, albeit criminal, ability. There’s something beautifully ironic about the condition that prevents him from pursuing music becoming the skill that allows him to hear what no one else can.
This also makes the film’s relationship with music more interesting than I initially expected. Although Tuner is technically a heist movie, music and sound are woven into almost every aspect of Niki’s story. That’s what made Tuner such a pleasant surprise. I expected a film about music and discovered a heist movie, only to find that music was still at the heart of it.
