#safecracker

On Japanese Internment.

TUNER - review

If you see a movie about people involved in criminal activity, often the lead character is suave, good-looking, and witty (think Ocean’s 11). Even if they break the law, you find yourself rooting for them to get away with it. OR the lead character has been duped into helping bad guys, and you hope he’ll be able to escape without getting arrested. BUT when the lead character willingly gets involved with a crime, profits from it, and shows little remorse about breaking the law… I find it difficult to root for him at all. He should have known better.

That’s how I feel about “Tuner,” a new movie starring up-and-coming actor Leo Woodall and featuring Dustin Hoffman. Woodall plays Niki, a young man with a severe hearing problem - he’s not deaf, it’s quite the opposite - his hearing is so sensitive that unexpected loud noises are very painful.

Earlier in life, Niki was a piano prodigy, but when he developed his hearing problem, he became a piano tuner instead, working for his mentor played by Hoffman. Hoffman’s character is in poor health and shows signs of senility - cue the violins — I mean piano!

While working later one night in a client’s mansion, noise upstairs prevents him with tuning, so he goes to investigate and discovers guys trying to break into a safe. Sooner than you can say “safecracker,” Niki has his ear pressed to the safe and swinging it open. Good thing he saw “how to crack a safe” YouTube videos the night before! (I’m not joking!)

The bad guy in charge of the gang soon offers Niki more safes to open, and Niki doesn’t seem to have any moral reservations. During one heist, he even steals a vintage Rolex watch to give to a young woman he just met.

Oh, sure, Niki is using his share of the robbery profits to pay off Hoffman’s hospital bills - but that doesn’t excuse him. Besides paying off someone’s hospital bills, that’s the last thing to do with the money.

(BTW - everything I’ve described about the plot is revealed in the trailer.)

So when Niki gets more and more involved with the criminal gang, and meets even more unsavory types, he’s responsible for the position he is in.

The trailer made the movie sound intriguing, but it was frustrating. Worst of all, there’s a twist towards the end, involving an incredible coincidence (remember that watch he gave to his girlfriend?). Oh! Apparently Niki has a second superpower, he has a Photographic memory. This is revealed towards the end but doesn’t seem to matter much, so why reveal it?

Woodall was good, but I wish his character had a strong sense of right and wrong. Hoffman was Hoffman (annoying).