SYNOPSIS: In “Tuner,” a new drama starring Leo Woodall, and now playing in theatres, a piano tuner with perfect pitch and very sensitive hearing, played by Leo Woodall, discovers his talents are good for more than just tuning pianos when his mentor Harry (Dustin Hoffman) gets hit with massive medical bills.
CAST: Leo Woodall, Havana Rose Liu, Lior Raz, Tovah Feldshuh, Jean Reno, Dustin Hoffman. Directed by Daniel Roher,
REVIEW: “Tuner’s” takes familiar genres, the rom com and crime thriller, mixes and matches them to create something fresh and new.
Leo Woodall stars as Niki, a former piano prodigy whose career was cut short by hyperacusis, a condition that requires him to wear headphones and hearing aids to protect his ears from the aural onslaught of everyday life.
While working with veteran piano tuner and mentor Harry (Dustin Hoffman), Niki meets and falls for composition student Ruthie (Havana Rose Liu). His life is complicated when Harry falls ill and can’t pay his medical bills. Wanting to help, Niki uses his finely tuned hearing to help a group of safe crackers for cash, a dangerous side gig that threatens his romance with Ruthie.
What begins as a surrogate father and son story becomes a crime drama with a romantic twist.
Academy Award winner Daniel Roher‘s narrative filmmaking debut is a character driven piece centered around a star-making performance from Woodall. He’s all understated charm as Niki, but this isn’t simply a story of a good guy who gets in over his head. Roher, who also wrote the script with Robert Ramsey, crafts a finely tuned tale of the pursuit of perfection, loyalty and conquering life’s limitations.
It’s jaunty and playful, with a great deal of charm, much of which stems from the performances.
Woodall, best known for season two of ”The White Lotus” and the romantic comedy “Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy,” does career best work, bringing charisma to an unconventional leading man role.
Liu elevates Ruthie from love interest to a fully rounded character while Hoffman provides warmth via his reliably ruffled persona.
“Tuner” is a low key, character driven movie that makes the most of its disparate elements to form a cohesive whole.
SYNOPSIS: “Lurker,” a new psychological thriller now playing in theatres, sees an obsessed fan drawn, like a moth, to the flame of fame.
CAST: Théodore Pellerin, Archie Madekwe, Zack Fox, Havana Rose Liu, Wale Onayemi, Daniel Zolghadri, and Sunny Suljic. Directed by Alex Russell.
REVIEW: The thin line between fandom and obsession is examined in “Lurker,” a new show biz thriller starring Quebec-born actor Théodore Pellerin and “Saltburn” star Archie Madekwe.
We first meet Matthew (Pellerin) when he’s working at a retail store frequented by celebrities. When up-and-coming singer Oliver stops by, he’s so impressed by Matthew’s take on his music and influences, he invites the awkward shop clerk to hang out at his Hollywood Hills home.
Seduced by the power of fame, he becomes a hanger-on, doing joe jobs around the musician’s home until Oliver asks him to become a photographer on a documentary essaying his creative process. Matthew loves basking in Oliver’s reflected glow, and, despite his insecurities, makes himself an integral part of the entourage.
When a newcomer becomes Oliver’s shiny new dime Matthew feels isolated until the singer behaves carelessly, opens himself up to blackmail, and gives Matthew a way back into the inner circle.
As a story of shifting power dynamics and the allure of fame, “Lurker” is tense, edge of your seat stuff as Matthew’s behavior shifts from fan to desperate and obsessive hanger-on.
Pellerin plays Matthew as a star-struck cypher, a blank slate, waiting to be colored by Oliver’s fame. His identity, or lack thereof, is so closely tied to his relationship with Oliver, that when that bond is broken, he’s lost and unpredictable. That quiet volatility gives “Lurker” an unnerving edge.
Madekwe brings pop star swagger to Oliver, a guy with a deep emotional connection to his music, but few of the interpersonal skills to make meaningful connections with people. As Oliver’s relationship with Matthew crumbles, he uses his hip aloofness like a cudgel. Madekwe’s casual cruelty cuts to the quick but sets up an interesting character reversal when Matthew’s blackmail plot changes their power dynamic.
Despite muddled storytelling as the film approaches its end credits, “Lurker” is still an interesting, incisive commentary on fame and power with, unlike so many other movies about pop music, great tunes that cleverly comment on the action. When Oliver sings, “What’s the difference between love and obsession?” he’s not simply waxing poetic, he’s tunefully, and authentically, getting to the heart of writer-director Alex Russell’s story.
A mix-and-match of “American Pie” and “Fight Club,” the new comedy “Bottoms,” starring “The Bear’s” Ayo Edebiri and “Shiva Baby’s” Rachel Sennot, and now playing in theatres, is a boisterous queer high school sex romp with an edge.
Edebiri and Sennot are Josie and PJ, best friends and high school outsiders desperate to catch the attention of cheerleaders Isabel (Havana Rose Liu), who also happens to be the girlfriend of the school’s star quarterback Jeff (Nicholas Galitzine), and Brittany (Kaia Gerber).
Ignored by the cool kids—there’s a rumor going around that they spent the summer in a juvenile-detention center—Josie and PJ form a plan to get cozy with their crushes. “We are literally at the bottom,” says PJ. “We have nowhere to go but up.” When the news breaks that a female student was assaulted by a rival football team member, they form a fight club.
“So, we teach a bunch of girls how to defend themselves,” says PJ. “They’ll be grateful. Next thing you know, Isabel and Brittany are kissing us on the mouths!”
Of course, an outlandish plan like this has outlandish and unexpected repercussions when a show of solidarity goes one step too far.
Unapologetically rowdy and rambunctious, but also cheerfully sweet and sensitive, “Bottoms” one of the funniest and bloodiest stories about the anarchy of adolescence to hit screens since “Heathers.” It follows high school movie tropes right out of the John Hughes handbook, but subverts each and every one of them to create something unexpected.
The idea of creating a fight club as a way to get girlfriends may be far out, but the premise is brought back to earth by Josie and PJ and their very understandable motivations. They want what every teenager wants; to be part of the crowd, to be popular and to have a special someone. In that context, “Bottoms” emulates many other teen comedies. Add some broken noses and bloodied lips and you get an off kilter, but genuine, look at life in the halls and classrooms of most every high school.
At the heart of it all are Edebiri and Sennot. Three years ago they starred in a Comedy Central digital series titled “Ayo and Rachel Are Single,” and their chemistry remains intact. Sennot (who co-wrote the script with director Emma Seligman) is brash and bold, mining the material for all its absurdity. Edebiri is more deadpan, a gentler presence who seems aware of the absurdity of the situation.
For all its bravado, attitude and heightened humor, “Bottoms” is a remarkably insightful and introspective look at high school and female friendship. That it is also an unruly good time just adds to its quirky charm.
