Review of Grand Piano (2013) by Panta O — 27 Apr 2014

This Spanish/American thriller starring Elijah Wood and John Cusack (which we could mainly hear only), was written by Damien Chazelle and directed by Eugenio Mira. Everything here was assembled right, even when wasn't very probable, and the story of Tom Selznick (Elijah Wood) was exciting and engaging keeping constant tension. Elijah Wood acted well as a concert pianist who had a melt-down five years ago due to a stage fright but it's now back to perform. His comeback performance becomes performance for his life and the lives of his closest family after turning his music sheet he notices a warning that he will die if he plays one wrong note.

He prepared thoroughly for this demanding role... he worked with a teacher three weeks prior to going to Barcelona and found it stressful having to play the piano and speak at the same time saying, "It was incredibly technical [...] lots of moments where it was jumping from where I'd play, listen to a click, listen to music, have to be in the right place and the right time and hear dialogue and repeat dialogue".

If you are for a change of thriller scenery and you want to see something classy, shiny, precise and plausible for the ears and eyes while engaging your grey cells - please, consider this one. It's worth it.