Grand Piano

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.

The amount of inconsistencies and wildly implausible things in this film, not even related to the story but related to the art of piano playing, really shouldn't be addressed. The film doesn't take itself seriously and clearly seems to know how preposterous it is, and it doesn't care. It has a hell of a lot of fun in what its doing, and by that I mean I did. There's a vibrant energy to this that really makes it pop and work like music in the best scenes, those scenes involving the tense plot work along with the concertos being played. It's really interesting and doesn't feel half-baked like so many thrillers do. Very fun film, definitely recommended.

Here's a director who knows how to shoot a film and he directed the hell out of this silly script, but you can throw the fanciest camera tricks at a dog of a script -- but good looking nonsense is still nonsense. This is one of those high concept screenplays that seems churned out by an automated software writing program, not a human who actually sat down to write this. Elijah Wood gives a one note (pun!) performance and he's either miscast or just downright boring as our lead - though his hands do a convincing job. An off screen for most of the film John Cusack is our villain who will shoot Mr. Wood and his pretty little wife if he plays a wrong note. Cusack's expository dialogue over the last act of the film, explaining his motives are eye rolling and the remaining 15 minutes seem like the automated writing software malfunctioned when character motivation and narrative collided. A dumb, harmless film.

Entertaining suspense movie packs intrigue and ordinary touches in Hitchcock style . Top-notch thriller embroils a famous pianist in killing and twisted intrigue . Having messed up at playing an extremely difficult piano piece a few years before, talented pianist Tom Selznick (Elijah Wood) lives with an extreme case of stage fright . Taking a step in the right direction and talked into it by his up and coming actress wife (Kerry Bishé) , Tom decides to give performing live another try . Already a mess, the situation is made much worse, when in the middle of playing a much easier musical number, Tom discovers a strange note written on his music sheet , the premise is the following : Play or Die .

Ultra-tense Spanish thriller starring Elijah Wood as a concert pianist who moments before his comeback performance suffers from stage fright and to discover that if he fails to play the music precisely as it was written , a nearly impossible feat in this case , then a sniper hidden in the theater will open fire. The picture is realized in Hitch wake , as it has a great number of elements and his own iconography : vertiginous height , innocent man wrongfully chased , blonde bombshells , voyeurism, long non-dialogue sequences , a matter of mistaken identity , MacGuffin ,etc. Do you know what a MacGuffin is, Maestro? It's a person or thing around which the entire film revolves and yet turns out to have little importance to the story . It's a magnificent device whereby a good plot can be given a driving force without the indecency of explanation . Grand Piano (2013), from director Eugenio Mira is an exciting film displaying suspense , intrigue , tension , and interesting drama well written by Damien Chazelle . Packs an ordinary theme of the suspense magician : innocent people become caught up in a cobweb intrigue and uncanny , intelligent villains . From the thrilling story and screenplay including literately and thoughtful dialog , the picture gets unlimited suspense in crescendo , tense , full of lingering frames and with the typical touches Hitchcock . And plenty of MacGuffins , as this picture is heavy with devices . A hidden threat, a hostage, an assistant, an unplayable piece of music, a stage, a key, and the unknown fortune of a deceased mentor .

Enjoyable mystery movie involves a bewildered pianist who hold numerous tricks in order to escape from a cruel killer and being chased cross hall concert and backstage . This agreeable picture by Eugenio Mira has a memorable scene after another and following the steps from master of suspense . This film has these particularities ; furthermore contains a fun intrigue , amusing situations and keeps the action at feverish pitch . Grand Piano is Hitchockian in the truer sense : It's a meticulously crafted piece of filmmaking that's wholly committed to a highly specific , somewhat outlandish premise . In addition , a colorful as well as evocative cinematography by Unax Mendia . Special mention to impressive and rousing musical score by Victor Reyes . The motion picture was well directed by Eugenio Mira (Agnosia , Birthday) and perfectly produced by Rodrigo Cortes (Buried , Red lights) . Mira played these elements like a concert pianist, perfectly timed with a soaring melody. Rating : Above average , well worth watching .

Tom Selznick is an acclaimed concert pianist. However, after messing up a key performance, he withdrew from the public eye. He agreed to perform again at a concert-tribute to his departed mentor. But as he began to play, he noted a threat written on his sheet music. He should play perfectly to the note, or his wife will die.

Elijah Wood plays Tom with his trademark wide-eyed style of acting. This film is practically a one-man show for Wood as all the focus was on him as he played for his wife's life while trying to psych out his unseen adversary. The constant look of fear on his face made this film work. For a non-piano player like myself, Wood's piano playing looked wonderfully realistic.

The villain was played by John Cusack, whom we only hear for the most part as his chilling voice dictated what his captive should do. Cusack succeeds to convey that sinister feel by his vocal inflections alone. We only see his face for a brief while towards the end which was honestly a bit anti-climactic.

The glamorous Kelly Bishe plays Tom's wife Emma, a celebrated actress who organized Tom's comeback event. Too bad, there really was not much for her to do here. I have to say though that I loved her haunting vocal solo (if that was actually her singing).

Actually the whole situation was impossible. While Tom was passionately playing complicated pieces, he was in constant communication with his hostage-taker via an earpiece. During certain movements in the concerto, Tom was actually able to run off the stage to go to the dressing room to investigate. He can even text while playing piano!

I don't really know what kind of superhuman ability Tom has to keep on playing perfectly while all of this stressful things were swirling around him. If you are able to suspend your disbelief in the incredibly improbable flow of events unfolding on the screen, you will get drawn into the excitement and tension of it all.

This film is not very long, only an hour and twenty minutes. The whole situation was bordering on the absurd, yet the way director Eugenio Mira staged it, urgent suspense still prevailed. The cinematography was lush. The editing was well done. The music was otherworldly in its beauty.

I enjoyed it. The middle section really had me on the edge of my seat. The concluding act was rather over-the-top, but overall this was a neat thriller that is worth to check out. 6/10.