Tuner

Leo Woodall’s charm has already got him through a trip on the Italian coast (The White Lotus), Netflix’s most devastating modern romance (One Day), and even a run-in with Bridget Jones, but with Tuner, he’s finally handed a true star vehicle, proving well and truly ready to take the wheel. In Daniel Roher’s romance-cum-thriller-cum-drama, Woodall plays Niki, a piano tuner with a rare hearing condition who, after being hit with mounting medical bills, decides to put his extraordinary ears to some less-than-legal use. And while the film borrows familiar notes from The Thomas Crown Affair and Baby Driver, it’s the committed character work and lead performance that ensure a mostly clean getaway.

With its breezy banter between Woodall and Dustin Hoffman’s mentor figure Harry, alongside Roher’s jazzy, quick-cut editing style, Tuner quickly becomes a very easy film to like. It’s equally easy to get wrapped up in Niki’s everyman world, too. There’s a quiet confidence to Woodall here, completely assured in what he does for work, yet refreshingly unassured in how he handles people, with the actor note-perfect at jumping between the two.

The world Niki inhabits only becomes more engaging once he crosses paths with pianist Ruthie (Havana Rose Liu), in what is, crucially, a genuinely convincing budding romance. Where other films would reduce this to a secondary plot point, Tuner gives it real importance. Woodall and Liu dance through Roher’s dialogue with ease; romantic, yes, but also allowing time for two people who experience the world through sound to slowly use words to show us who they really are, a pairing of two actors who have long hovered around leading roles and have finally been given the space to properly shine.

Tuner’s next star is its sound design. Not since Whiplash has a film made audiences so aware of every note, key or click. Whether it’s a piano performance or Niki hearing each increasingly deafening turn of a safe dial, Roher makes sound feel tactile and always dialled up. The film plays many scenes from Niki’s point of view, with every raised voice or pin-drop pulling us deeper into his world. It not only creates some genuinely nerve-crunching tension, but makes us feel Niki’s disorientation and sensitivity in a way that brings us even closer to him.

If there’s a flaw in this grand heist, it’s that Tuner can’t quite get away with all the genres it’s trying to pull off. Its crime antics are never as convincing as the drama and romance the film invests so heavily in, and as those increasingly far-fetched hijinks take centre stage in the third act, the film does lose some of its cool. Still, when the loot on display has this much character and charm, it’s hard to be dissatisfied. It may not be 18-carat gold, but Tuner is still a damn good watch.