In what looks like a more refined version of Joel Schumacher's PHONE BOOTH, the new thriller GRAND PIANO, starring Elijah Wood and John Cusack puts a fun spin on the high-concept thriller. Wood plays a famous piano player who is making his comeback after a bout of stage fright curtailed his career only to find the added pressure of being held at gunpoint with the instruction to play perfectly or die. Man, as if playing in front of an audience wasn't enough! It's got some Hitchcockian/DePalma gloss to it and has received a lot of critical praise from festival screenings. Could this be a sleeper hit for 2014?
Play or die!:
Here's the synopsis:
Moments before his comeback performance, a concert pianist who suffers from stage fright discovers a note written on his music sheet.
Elijah Wood has made a really nice go of a post LORD OF THE RINGS career, starring in cool genre pics like this and the horror flick MANIAC (as well as FX's Wilfred) and it's nice to see him paving a new path for his career post Hobbit life. Cusack has had a tougher go, as he's gone from leading man to secondary roles or straight-to-video fare, but that doesn't make him any less of an engaging actor. In fact, having both stars in this is a major bonus and makes the SPEED-on-a-piano set-up a lot more enticing.
GRAND PIANO is set to open in limited theaters on March 7, 2014.
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