One of my all time favorites.

Best movie ever!

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

The movie director Chuky Namanera, must be a total ignoramus of piano classical music. A concert pianist will NEVER use a score to play a concert. If by any reason he would ever need to do anything close to that, he would have someone to turn the pages. The piano would NEVER be in the back of the orchestra, even if elevated. The pianist would NEVER exit the stage until the piece is complete. The audience do not clap between movements. The conductor should've started speaking before the applause. The conductor of a classical orchestra will make absolutely certain he would know how to pronounce Bösendorfer correctly. Instead of violating these traditions, the movie could've used them. For example the impossibility of leaving the stage. The proximity of the pianist to the other people. They could've had a whole audience captured instead of just the pianist. This movie was done for people who have no clue about classical music. Shame.

Wow, this was so dumb that I could barely make it through the movie! An already nervous pianist/performer, now has to play an extremely technical and difficult piece, after 5 years off. And now he has a gun to his head while on stage, has distracting & threatening conversations on a cell phone, while playing before a packed house!??? Concert pianists need full focus on the performance, without any distractions, to play it right. WOW, this was really dumb!!!

Here's a Spanish single-location thriller which received mixed reviews upon release. I'm a huge fan of that particular sub-genre of film-making and you might as well call this PHONE BOOTH with a piano. The story is about a famous concert pianist making a comeback who is challenged by a sniper not to play a single note wrong, or else he'll be shot dead. That's all there is to the story. It's a faintly ridiculous premise, and unfortunately the whole of the narrative is ridiculous and full of plot holes and unbelievable scenarios. The killer in the film has a plan so nonsensical that none of it hangs together at all. Therefore it's quite impressive to say that the film is still watchable despite these massive flaws, thanks in part to Elijah Wood's stoic performance as the put-upon lead.The other issue I had with the film was the direction. Spanish director Eugenio Mira was obviously deathly afraid of making a film with a guy sitting at the piano for most of the running time boring, so he goes out of his way to keep his camera moving with lots of pans and quick-fire editing. It's a real distraction and feels very juvenile; keeping the camera still and letting the actors do their job would have been much better. The cast is a mixed bag with a subdued John Cusack effective in a mainly vocal performance and Alex Winter a lot of fun as an aide. However, Tamsin Egerton is dreadful as the friend character and Kerry Bishe isn't much better. If you can get past all the clichés and ludicrous scenes then you might just enjoy this, although at the end of the day they're too big to ignore.

Grand Piano is one of those small, independent features that often no one pays mind to which is a darn shame. Essentially speaking, it is the little thriller that could. No doubt, it's a small film but this is a piece of art. The film is very similar to 2002's Phone Booth, but instead of a phone booth, it takes place on a piano during a concert. The movie is riveting, tense, features fine acting, and a tight screenplay by Damian Chazelle, whom we will meet later on in great detail. This film is about a gifted piano player named Tom Selznick who embarks on a comeback trail after spending several years in retirement and suffers from stage fright. However, a sniper leaves a note saying if he plays one wrong note, he will die. Elijah Wood delivers a fearful performance as Selznick. He hits all the right notes, figuratively and literally speaking. His paranoia is intense as he tries to find the identity of his killer. John Cusack, or I shall say mostly his voice, delivers a fine performance as the man who wants Tom to play all the right notes for a specific reason. Overall, Grand Piano is a riveting thriller and a better movie than the kind of release date would inspire. The screenplay was excellent and likewise for the acting. The ending could have been better as I felt the movie ended at the wrong time. An additional five minutes would suffice. But on the whole, this is the little thriller that could.My Grade: B+/A-