Tuner review: Leo Woodall shines in enjoyable heist caper
Leo Woodall has been making a name for himself in television, starring in shows like The White Lotus, Vladimir and One Day, and now he’s transitioning to leading movie roles, starting with the entertaining Tuner.
Woodall plays Niki White, a piano-tuning apprentice who suffers from hyperacusis – or a sensitivity to sound – and has to wear ear protection at all times. Thanks to his heightened hearing, he discovers a hidden talent for safe-cracking and starts working with a group of criminals led by Uri (Lior Raz). Pretending to be a security company, they go to wealthy people’s homes and steal cash and valuables from their safes. In desperate need of money, Niki is initially willing to use his talent for illegal means, but after a while, he wants out – and they won’t let him.
Tuner starts off like a buddy comedy, with Woodall and Dustin Hoffman delightfully bouncing off each other as the mentor and mentee. Their dynamic is amusing, their rapport is ace, the sequences are edited well, and you warm to them quickly.
But once the criminal trio enters the picture, the film slowly builds the stakes until it becomes an all-out thriller. The criminal trio are amenable at first and actually quite funny when Niki is working in their favour, but when he tries to leave and threatens to ruin their money-making scheme, they reveal just how dangerous they are.
There is also an added romance subplot, as Niki begins dating gifted pianist and music student Ruthie (Havana Rose Liu) after tuning her conservatory’s piano. Liu, who caught my attention in Bottoms, is really great here and keeps this storyline grounded with her sweet, natural performance. Of course, this is a thriller, so the romance subplot collides with the wider story eventually, and Ruthie is one of the main catalysts for Niki wanting to escape his criminal side hustle.
You can easily draw parallels between Tuner and Baby Driver, which starred Ansel Elgort as a young man with tinnitus working as a getaway driver. Tuner doesn’t reach the highs of Edgar Wright‘s film, but it’s still a solid, enjoyable thriller that blends genres and tones well. If that’s not enough, the impressive sound design helps put us in his shoes, and Woodall’s charming performance is sure to earn him more leading man roles.
In cinemas from Friday 29th May