What to watch: ‘Tuner’ is a winner and Leo Woodall is the key

A thriller about a good listener and a reboot of a classic comedy that improves on the original top our roundup this week.

“Tuner”: Leo Woodall’s sensitive, charismatic performance as a soft-spoken piano tuner with an acute sense of hearing elevates Oscar-winning director Daniel Roher’s engrossing first narrative feature, a polished drama/thriller that unfortunately loses its logic near the end. Woodall makes Niki White so irresistible you can’t help but root for him even as he plunges down a dangerous rabbit hole by hooking up with a New York crime outfit that taps his heightened auditory talents to pick locks and safes. Niki’s doing it for a noble reason, though, and it’s one that will melt your heart — to help out ailing mentor and business boss Harry Horowitz (Dustin Hoffman). Too bad then that Woodall and the film itself — a technically accomplished project, in particular when it comes to the incredible sound design — gets sideswiped by an unbelievable coincidence. That misstep sounds the wrong note in an otherwise entertaining crowd-pleaser that succeeds best as a showcase for Woodall and as a revealing character study about an endearing, talented guy who makes some wrong moves just as things are starting to go right for him, particularly in the form of a new relationship with a music composition student (Havana Rose Liu). Details: 3 stars out 4; opens May 29 in theaters.

“The Four Seasons Season 2”: Sophomore seasons can falter and fall down, failing to live up to its first go around. Not Netflix’s pithy dramedy about two couples and friends who get together every season. In fact, the second outing feels positively liberated from the Alan Alda original 1982 movie, able now to create its own dilemmas and issues for its flawed and relatable characters The writing is excellent but it is the seasoned cast that sells it and lands every line with the authority of a Simon Biles during a mat routine. Each actor — Tina Fey, Lafayette native Will Forte, Colman Domingo, Marco Calvani, Kerri Kenney-Silver and Erika Henningsen — gets their moments to shine as life changes happen, such as caring for a newborn, a relocation, opposing couple interests and even new romances. It raises the stakes, but it also addresses real challenges that friends and couples face and the squabbles that come out of those. Creators Fey, Lang Fisher and Tracey Wigfield balance the humor with genuine pathos and unhappiness. Forte’s character Jack becomes more real, showing a passive aggressive side that makes us understand why Kate (Fey) is feeling unfulfilled. But it’s the relationship between Domingo and Calvani that makes us laugh the loudest and warm our hearts. Both actors are incandescent with each other and Calvani is even more adorable this season as the demonstrative and frank Italian who longs for his homeland. This season also gives Kenney-Silver some of the best lines and also funny and bittersweet moments. It’s a big improvement from season one and is on its way to establishing itself as a contemporary “Friends,” only with better scenery. Details: 3 stars, eight episodes drop May 28 on Netflix.

“Miss You, Love You”: Obviously chamber pieces depend on that instantaneous connection between two leads, be they adversaries or frie½nds. No matter how great an actor might be on their own, the mostly two-person plot requires each player to play off the other as if they’re in a sweaty “Challengers” tennis match. Fortunately, director/writer Jim Rash’s funny and emotional spar fest between the queen of withering glares and snippy comments — award winner Allison Janney – and the onstage king for stammering self involvement — Andrew Rannells – click in director/writer Jim Rash dramedy debut. Janney injects ice into the veins of New Mexico widow Diane Patterson who is arranging the funeral for her husband. Her estranged gay son’s guilt for not being there to console her gets the best of him, and he sends to her the overly organized assistant Jamie Simms (Rannells) to help. He receives the cold shoulder from Diane who takes great offense at his presence. The two, of course, strike a peace accord and divulge info about their pasts and go on to evaluate their brittle relationships with Diane’s son. Rush’s screenplay spits out witty lines that both actors take command of and even when the barriers come down and the chips in their facades start to show, they stay true to their characters’ core being. While the HBO film doesn’t do anything new with material like this, it’s still fun to see these two actors at work in a satisfying and promising debut from Rash. Details: 2½ stars, airs at 8 p.m. May 29 on HBO)

“Mating Season”: A raunchy animated series singularly devoted to the horny shenanigans of lovelorn woodland critters better be funny or it’s going to come off as flat and thin as an undercooked pancake. Good news. “Mating Season” is absolutely hilarious. No surprise given it’s from the same vulgar-adjacent team that brought us Netflix’s equally coarse “Big Mouth.” Each of its 25-minute-or-so episodes mine comedy gold and will make you shoot water out of your nose at least once. But underneath its potty-mouthed humor, it’s sweet, accentuating how true-blue friendships can help each other survive the calamities of the dating and mating scene. The writing’s full of outrageous situations (orgies, straight, gay and lesbian bar hookups) and killer one liners as four chums – a hypersexual, hyperactive racoon named Ray (Nick Kroll), a striking, vain deer named Fawn (June Diane Raphael), an insecure and in-need-of-therapy bear named Josh (Zack Woods) and a self-defeating lesbian fox named Penelope (Sabrina Jalees) – seek out quickies and relationships – some polyamorous, some not. If you’ve had a bad day at work or just need something to binge watch to pep you up, the 10-episode “Mating Season” is a willing partner in raising those spirits. (The opening credits alone will make you smile). Details: 3 stars; now available on Netflix.

— Contact Randy Myers at [email protected].