Review of Grand Piano (2013) by Troy G — 06 Mar 2014

Directed by Eugenio Mira and written by Damien Chazelle, Grand Piano stars Elijah Wood as Tom Selznick - a gifted piano player that has been retired for the previous five-year retirement. The last time he was on stage, Tom attempted to play an "unplayable" piece that only few have the ability to play, but ended up suffering from the embarrassment of stage fright. But, to honor his late, great mentor - Tom agrees to headline a night at the symphony in Chicago. Also in attendance for the show is his popular movie star wife, Emma (Kerry Bishé).

When Tom takes the stage in front of a packed house, he appears to be calm and at home - at least until he starts turning the pages of his music to discover cryptic messages indicating that if he doesn't follow directions, both he and his wife will die. Eventually, Tom is given an earpiece that allows him to converse with the mysterious author (John Cusack) of the messages - who happens to be watching the show with a sniper rifle in hand. The mysterious voice directs Tom to play the "unplayable" piece that caused him so much embarrassment five years earlier - and he must do it without missing a single note or both he and his wife will die.

Elijah Wood, who is probably best recognized for his starring role in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, portrays a surprisingly in-depth and likeable character. Wood manages to translate the character's hesitance to return to the stage quite well - all while eventually balancing the double duty of "playing" the piano while interacting with the mysterious voice - portrayed by John Cusack. Wood and Cusack compliment one another far better than anyone could have imagined, and although Cusack is absent from the screen for the vast majority of the film, he does eventually make a brief appearance that's basically designed in a manner to indicate that viewers weren't supposed to know it was actually Cusack behind the voice all along. If that's what the story was going for, Cusack's name should have been left out of the opening credits - to emphasize the surprise.

Speaking of the opening credits, the music sets a distinctive - almost cryptic tone, which doesn't sound completely unlike the pulse-pounding music in Predator. From there, the film starts off a bit slow, setting up the mindset of Wood's character as his nervousness escalates preceding his highly anticipated performance. However, just when he thinks he's found his comfortably of stage, a giant wrench is thrown into this plot as it suddenly becomes about a relatively basic hostage situation (oblivious to the audience, though). The only question is: what is the motive of the man with the sniper rifle? And, while that answer becomes clear eventually, it is a bit of a letdown due to the abrupt nature of the ending.

Grand Piano, titled for the priceless importance of the piano that Tom's character will be playing throughout the film, is somewhat reminiscent of the 2003 thriller, Phone Booth. In Phone Booth, Colin Farrell stars as a man trapped in a phone booth by a mysterious onlooker with a sniper rifle whom shares his demands over the telephone (distinctly voiced by Kiefer Sutherland). There are similarities between that film and Grand Piano, but with subtle differences - which include the driving force between the antagonists, yet the general plot of these two films (minus the final outcome) are roughly the same.

Overall, Grand Piano is a quick 90-minute film that is - outside of the opening 15 minutes or so, anything but boring. While this is a mystery-driven, thrilling film, it doesn't exactly put you at the edge of your seat or leave you biting your nails. However, it does provide a fluent, easy flowing story that prominently features two well-respected Hollywood actors. The chemistry between Elijah Wood and John Cusack is worth the price of admission, and although there are certain parts of the plot (namely the ending) that are a bit convoluted - the underlying quality of the film does not suffer because of it. Sadly, though, this is a limited release feature that deserves to be given a wide release - and could have provided a studio with a hit after word a mouth got a hold of it. But - at this point, that's nothing more than wishful thinking. In any event, if you have the means to see this film - don't hesitate.

GRADE: B.