Tuner – Movie Review

TL;DR – A fascinating exploration of a man at the precipice of a bad decision for good reasons.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

The locking mechanism of a safe.

Tuner Review Introduction

There are some people you know that when they give a film recommendation, you need to check it out, because whether you vibe with a film or not, their recommendations are always interesting. Today is just such a film, one that has intrigued me from afar, but even more so now that I have seen it up close.

So, to set the scene, deep in New York City lives famed piano tuner Harry Horowitz (Dustin Hoffman), who is training his apprentice, Niki White (Leo Woodall). Harry has progressive dementia, and Niki has perfect pitch but lives with hyperacusis, a sensitivity to sound, which means that he must wear hearing protection for most of his life, especially around loud noises. After being forced to come back to a house late at night to tune a piano when all the tradespeople have gone, he may have helped some criminals crack a safe. It is something that he would entertain, until Harry is hospitalised, money is needed, and maybe this is his way out.  

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Sound of Metal – Movie Review

TL;DR – A profoundly moving and confronting film that explores a man’s life after it has been ripped asunder    

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene

Awards

Nominated: Fascinating Worldbuilding.
Winner: Fascinating Worldbuilding.

Sound of Metal. Image Credit: Amazon Studios.

Sound of Metal Review

There are times when you have seen an actor nail every role that you have seen them in, but they have only been in supporting roles. So you can’t wait to see someone take a chance and cast them in the lead. One of those actors is Riz Ahmed, and I am glad that I get to see that happen today with Sound of Metal.

So to set the scene, Ruben Stone (Riz Ahmed) is a musician, specifically a drummer, who is on tour with his partner Lou (Olivia Cooke). One night when he is performing a ringing starts in his ears, but it goes away. However, it continues to relapse till he has only 20% hearing in both his ears. Ruben is told that he has to stop drumming or he could lose all his hearing. He ignores the doctor and goes back to drumming until it is all gone. In a moment of despair, he starts to backslide after being clean for four years. Lou calls his sponsor, and they are able to find a place that can help him with both his addiction and help him work through his loss of hearing. The head of the facility, Joe (Paul Raci) needs Ruben to cut himself off from the world for this to work, which is a difficult transition.

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