On DVD and Blu Ray - "Grand Piano" (2014) - A classical concert pianist (Elijah Wood) battling a severe case of stage-fright on the eve of his comeback performance finds himself under even more pressure (and under fire) when tasked by a seemingly omnipotent sniper (John Cusack) mid concert to play an extremely complex piece hitch-free… or die.
I enjoyed the Hitchcockian tone and
the De Palma-like cinematography tricks, though the narrative stretches
believability until it bursts at the seams.
Those familiar with the films that Grand Piano is emulating will get
more of a kick out of it than others.
With a few polishing passes over its script (focusing on plausibility), this would have fit in nicely with Alfred Hitchcock’s classical suspense films of the 1950’s like “Dial M For Murder”, “Rear Window”, “Vertigo” and “North By Northwest”. Hell, I found myself envisioning Cary Grant or Jimmy Stewart in Wood’s role early and often.
Cool to see Alex Winter (The Lost
Boys, Bill And Ted’s Excellent Adventure) as an Usher with ulterior motives.
Recommended, but with substantial
reservations- it’s one helluva guilty pleasure with added emphasis on the
“guilty” portion.
7.0 out of 10
Director: Eugenio Mira
Cast: Elijah Wood, John Cusack, Kerry
Bishe, Tamsin Egerton, Ellen Leech, Don McManus, Dee Wallace and Alex Winter
Run-Time: 90 minutes
MPAA: Rated R for some
language
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