Grand Piano *** (2014, Elijah Wood, John Cusack) – Movie Review

The small but perfectly formed Elijah Wood (5ft 6in) stars as Tom Selznick. a classical concert pianist who suffers from stage fright who is making his big comeback performance after five years away.

Moments before he starts to play before his concert with a large orchestra and huge audience in an enormous opera house, he discovers a note written on his score. This is not good news. An unseen assassin (John Cusack, 6ft 3in) threatens him that if he misses one note or try to attract help, he’ll get shot. Tom and the killer then communicate by ear mic, with poor Tom having to respond to the killer while he has to try to play the perfect concert.

Nimbly written by Damien Chazelle and suspensefully and stylishly directed by Eugenio Mira, filming in Madrid, this old-style thriller proves a good gig for Elijah Wood, who makes a fine hero in peril, both likeable and sympathetic, so you’re always on his side. It’s necessarily less good for Cusack, because we hardly see him, but he does put a menacing spin on his mostly only vocal performance. It’s a fun villain role, though why the obviously nice Cusack keeps getting cast as monsters is a mystery.

It does gets sillier and sillier as it goes along, but enjoyably so, as one bizarre plot twist follows another. Mira goes for an operatic visual style that suits the material and setting perfectly, with swooping camerawork, split screen and killer’s point of view shots.

Hitchcock would have liked this entertainment. It’s his style of thriller in his kind of setting. They have a job to provide a satisfying ending, but even if that disappoints, there’s a lot of fun along the way, and at a crisp 90 minutes it doesn’t outstay its welcome.

Bill & Ted’s Alex Winter has a useful role as the killer’s creepy assistant and Kerry Bishé is Tom’s wife, who’s at the concert and in peril too, with Tamsin Egerton as her bitchy friend Ashley, who’s also at the show.

Damien Chazelle is the writer-director of Whiplash (2014).

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© Derek Winnert 2014 Movie Review

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