Leo Woodall is heading into the May 22 release of Tuner with a story about Dustin Hoffman that sounds almost as watchable as the film itself. In Daniel Roher’s first narrative feature, Woodall plays Niki, a gifted piano tuner whose perfect pitch also lets him crack difficult safes with unnerving speed.
That gift pulls Niki into a criminal orbit when he runs into Uri, played by Lior Raz, on a job and is recruited to become a master safe-cracker. Uri’s crew includes Yoni, played by Gil Cohen, and Benny, played by Nissan Sakira, while Hoffman plays Harry Horowitz, the piano tuner who works with Niki. Tovah Feldshuh plays Marla, Harry’s wife, who tells Niki that she and Harry are being buried by medical bills.
Woodall said Hoffman was the kind of screen legend he grew up with in mind. “He’s on that Mount Rushmore for me,” he said, adding that Hoffman was “so large in stature, but quite small as a man” and “a very approachable man, and an absolute joy to work with.” On set, Woodall said, “I tried to be as much of a sponge as I could and soak it all up.”
He said the biggest lessons came from watching how Hoffman worked. “There were two big lessons: he treats every take like a rehearsal, and also, you think he’s got it all figured out but he does have his doubts and moments,” Woodall said. “That, to me was inspiring: I’m still gonna feel like this in 60 years, but I can figure out ways to cope with it, use it, and manoeuvre it.”
Tuner is already drawing rave reviews, giving Roher a buzzy launch for a film that leans on pressure, talent and desperation. Roher, who won an Academy Award for Navalny, is making his first narrative film here, and the cast also includes Jean Reno as a famous composer and Holocaust survivor. One Israeli critic has lamented the film’s negative Israeli representation, a reminder that the movie’s crime story is landing in a wider argument about how Jewish and Israeli characters are portrayed on screen.
Woodall, meanwhile, is about to take on another Jewish role as he prepares to play Jewish American chef Anthony Bourdain in the upcoming Tony. But for now, the actor’s attention is on Tuner, where the most striking part of the story may be that a young lead found his rhythm not just in the heist plot, but in the way Hoffman showed him how to work, doubt and all.
