Grand Piano (2014)

Touches You

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Grand Piano (2013) Director: Eugenio Mira Watched: 8/14/18 Rating: 6/10 {Clue: Written by this jazz-loving director} Comeback performance from a concert pianist that retired five years ago due to stagefright, How ironic that time his nerves are actually warranted- an unfortunate victim of a sniper with dubious motives and a perplexing modus operandi.A skilled camera lens that erratically yet poetically serves as our tour guide- sending us from conductor to pianist to violinist to audience to balcony back to pianist to backstage to villain- even split screen and through the gears under the piano's hood. Zealous fans of classical music will not be disappointed by the score- Exceptional compositions played beautifully as they augment the taut mood/tempo and thrills/suspense of the story. Laudable performances from Wood and Cusack in a taut "Phonebooth" meets "Whiplash" battle of wits. Lamentable premise that starts out tenuously at best- becoming campy by its unsatisfying finale. End result is a beautifully orchestrated concert with skilled musicians- but essential components of the symphony are defective. #Acrostic #PoemReview #Chicago #OneLocation #Music #StyleOverSubstance #WastedPotential

When pitched the idea might have seemed novel if hardly riveting, (a concert pianist about to perform finds a note on his sheet music telling him that if he plays a wrong note he and/or his wife will be killed), but this thriller, penned by current Hot Young Thing Damien Chazelle and directed by Eugenio Mira, is surprisingly suspenseful. Indeed this is the kind of conceit that Hitchcock might have toyed with, (something similar was seen some years back when Colin Farrell found himself trapped in a phone-box with a sniper's rifle trained on him). Of course, that movie, "Phone Booth" had the streets of the city to play with; the problem facing Mira is how to keep us glued to a limited set, (in this case a concert hall), and a fixed time span, not to mention 'inflicting', on perhaps a less than enthusiastic audience, a lot of semi-classical music. That he, and lead actor Elijah Woods, as well as the off-screen voice of potential killer John Cusack, pull it off is a credit to them all. Also, for something so seemingly insular, Mira makes excellent use of the widescreen. Perhaps more destined for cult status than mass consumption but certainly worth seeing.

If sound makes up more than half of the movie experience then Grand Piano is as simple of a concept as it is brilliant. In Grand Piano the worlds greatest concert pianist is set to make his return to the grand stage after freezing and failing an epic piece a few years prior. He plans to make his return while playing the piano of his recently deceased mentor and this is where the movie finds the inspiration for its title. However someone has scribbled down threats in his notes and he is now forced to play every note perfectly if he wishes to stay alive.Elijah Wood plays the main part brilliantly even though he seldom has anyone to act off of and his energy in playing the piano shines through and most of the time comes of as real rather than fake. Using the score in a two-fold meaning, both as a story mechanism and as a suspension builder, works great most of the time and it really showcases the talent behind the movie.Much like many other movies that are based around simple concept or locations it struggles to keep things interesting throughout the entire running time and this plus some stereotypical minor characters unfortunately keeps the movie from being as great as it could have been. But as it stands its a unique, often thrilling, movie that dares to think outside of the box.

In the Trivia of this movie, it states that the last 13 minutes ( of the total of 90) are the credits. I could add that also the first 5 minutes or so of the movie are credits. So basically, what you are watching is a 70 minutes long film, placed in an opera, during a concert. The idea had bored at me at first. And really, the trailer seemed to be the only action that was going to happen in the movie. But it turns out quite well. It actually turns out quite amazing for a movie focused on a guy playing the piano for at least half an hour on the screen. One thing that really bothered me was the main actor. I mean, sorry, but Elijah? Elijah Wood? Frodo?? It was actually quite funny: Frodo with scene fright, puts on the RING, disappears in the middle of the show, crowd goes wild. Funny. Still, the movie was great, but focusing the entire plot inside of a building can be a bit of a yawn-maker.