Movie Review - Grand Piano

Grand Piano (2014)

Starring Elijah Wood, John Cusack, and Kerry Bishé

Directed by Eugenio Mira

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

I must say that as someone who plays the piano, the concept of Grand Piano is a little bit frightening.  A concert pianist named Tom Selznick (Elijah Wood), who abandoned performing for several years, is making a return to the stage in a tribute concert to his recently deceased mentor.  As he sits down to play the show, he discovers as he turns the pages of his music that someone has left threatening remarks all over his piece.  When the red dot of a sniper's gun then shows up on his hand, panic sets in as Tom plays a cat and mouse game with this crazed classical music fan who says if he plays a wrong note he'll not only kill Tom, but also his wife (Kelly Bishé) in front of a packed house.

Grand Piano is quite the Hitchcockian piece -- a descriptor that I don't like to throw around too much out of reverence for the great director.  With very little blood, gore, or language, director Eugenio Mira and writer Damien Chazelle have created a nifty little thriller that takes place mostly on one set and mostly in real time.  (Speaking of time, after four minutes of opening and twelve (!!) minutes of closing credits, Grand Piano really only runs a brisk 74 minutes long.)  While there are surely moments of overly exaggerated tension (and also some moments of implausibility), I couldn't help but be swept into the menacing tone.  Elijah Wood is quite good as the virtuoso pianist -- although I found myself saying that there was no way someone could talk and play such complicated pieces at the same time.  Still, the director builds enough good will throughout that I pushed that aside quite quickly.

Perhaps I'm giving this one a little bit of leeway since I'm a pianist myself and the nightmarish concept is a bit thrilling because of my connection with the instrument.  However, I don't think that's the case.  I go back to the notion that this is the kind of movie Hitchcock would be making were the director still around today and the fact that it's executed so well is a breath of fresh air.

The RyMickey Rating:  B+