Jewish Actors Lior Raz, Dustin Hoffman and Tovah Feldshuh Star in ‘Tuner’ – Kveller

Movies

The heist film, from Academy Award winning Jewish director Daniel Roher, is getting rave reviews.

Daniel Roher’s new heist movie “Tuner” is star-studded to say the least.

The Jewish Canadian Academy Award-winning director’s (“Navalny”) first narrative film stars Leo Woodall (“The White Lotus”) as Niki, a gifted piano tuner, who discovers that his perfect pitch hearing also helps quickly open challenging safes.

In the movie, Dustin Hoffman plays Harry Horowitz, with whom Niki works as a piano tuner; the two seem to have a really special connection, with Harry playing a surrogate father figure. When Harry gets hospitalized, Niki discovers through Harry’s wife, Tovah Feldshuh’s Marla, that the couple are being buried by medical bills — and he wants to help.

Enter Lior Raz’s Uri, a criminal Niki runs into on a job who recruits him to join his operation as a master safe-cracker. Uri’s accomplices are played by Israeli actors Gil Cohen who plays Yoni, and Nissan Sakira who plays Benny, Uri’s nephew.

The trailer looks amazing, with Raz playing the villain perfectly, though one Israeli critic has lamented the negative Israeli representation as a group of money-hungry criminals at such a tumultuous time, especially when put in contrast with the other, warm Jewish characters.

Celebrated French actor Jean Reno plays a famous composer and Holocaust survivor. Hoffman looks like the sweetest Jewish father figure who loves to kvell over Niki whenever he can, and Feldshuh plays an incredibly affectionate Jewish mom who warns Niki not to do anything stupid to help Harry. Obviously, he does not heed her warning. I guess the moral of this film is: Listen to your (surrogate) Jewish mom (especially if she’s played by Tovah Feldshuh).

The film is already getting rave reviews, and Woodall, who is also about to play Jewish American chef Anthony Bourdain in the upcoming “Tony,” has been nothing but effusive about working with Hoffman.

“He’s on that Mount Rushmore for me,” the actor told Esquire. “He’s obviously so large in stature, but quite small as a man. He’s a very approachable man, and an absolute joy to work with.”

“I tried to be as much of a sponge as I could and soak it all up,” Woodall said. “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. 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 coming to theaters on May 22.