The last time I saw Leo Woodall in anything, he was providing ‘services’ for his gay ‘uncle’ in the second season of ‘The White Lotus’ (that’s as queer-adjacent as this review gets, by the way).  In director Daniel Roher’s ‘Tuner’, Leo plays Niki White, a piano tuner and apprentice to the increasingly frail and foggy-minded Harry Horowitz (Dustin Hoffman). What sets Niki apart is his perfect pitch, which he demonstrates to piano student Ruthie, played by Havana Rose Liu, in an early meeting. However, he also has a condition known as hyperacusis, an extreme sensitivity to sound.

The movie opens with us following Niki and Harry as they tune the pianos of the more affluent residents of the New York City area. Often, the pair are treated like casual labourers and asked to do other odd jobs, unblocking the toilet, for example.  When Harry forgets the combination to his own safe, Niki takes it away and, using his hypersensitive hearing, opens it.  This unexpected new skill later comes in handy when his path crosses with Uri (Lior Raz) and his two cohorts while they’re alone on a late-night job. As a sudden, urgent need for fast cash arises, Leo gets drawn into a life of part-time crime.

This movie is described as a crime thriller, but I’d also add ‘romance’ to the mix, as Niki and Ruthie’s relationship is pivotal to the plot.  As you’d expect from a movie about sound, the film uses it inventively and gives us insight into what Niki deals with as he navigates the noisy city. The film also has a gorgeous score with exceptional, original compositions by Will Bates and Marius de Vries.

I always love to see Dustin Hoffman in anything, and Tovah Feldshuh (‘Nobody Wants This’) as Harry’s wife, Marla, is always great value, and while all the actors do sterling jobs, this really is Leo’s movie, and he shows again why his star is on the rise.

At times, the plot was quite predictable (with some convenient coincidences), but there were moments I didn’t see coming, and the ending hit exactly the right note. Highly recommended and enjoyable movie.