Elijah Wood Anchors a Hitchcockian Thriller

With his 2013 thriller Grand Piano, director and musician Eugenio Mira paired Elijah Wood with a disembodied John Cusack for a heightened trip into the anxiety of being a classical musician. The premise—a sniper rifle in the nosebleed section ready to fire at the first missed note—is striking, and the screenplay from future Oscar-winner Damien Chazelle keeps the tension focused.

The film is grounded by Wood’s neurotic, soulful performance. Wood plays pianist Tom Selznick, returning to the stage for the first time after a very public mental breakdown five years earlier. The climactic piece, La Cinquette, was written by his recently deceased mentor, who also left a missing fortune—a detail that hints at the motives of the mysterious gunman Clem.

Kerry Bishé appears as Tom’s actress wife, encouraging his return to performance. Mira’s direction makes the dizzying plot easy to follow, cutting sweeping shots of the concert hall to extreme close-ups that dissolve to the sheet music.

elijah wood, eugenio mira, grand piano, damien chazelle, john cusack, kerry bishé, sniper rifle, classical music, la cinquette, concert hall