Stuber

Starring: Dave Bautista, Kumail Nanjiani, Mira Sorvino, Natalie Morales, Iko Uwais, Betty Gilpin, Karen Gillan, Jimmy Tatro
Directed by: Michael Dowse
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Comedy
2019

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A take-no-prisoners detective (Dave Bautista) forces a mild-mannered Uber driver (Kumail Nanjiani) to drive him to investigate a dangerous conspiracy.

Review:

Tim: Stuber is a perfectly decent little action comedy, helped greatly by its two leads. The movie is funny- not hysterically so, but humorous. It's entertaining. I didn't like it as much as I wish I did, but it's a decent comedy.

I've been fairly impressed with Dave Bautista. Drax from Guardians of the Galaxy may always be the best thing he does, but he's worked hard at improving as an actor and he hasn't done too badly for himself. His comedic timing is really good. I wouldn't say that this was anywhere near his best performance, but it's a solid comedic turn. He's good in these kinds of movies and I enjoyed him in the part. It's definitely a role designed to play to his strengths. You could say the same thing about Kumail Nanjiani. I love that his career has taken off in recent years- he's entertaining, intelligent, and fun to watch. He is quite different from Bautista, which makes their pairing so good.

This is really the film's greatest appeal, the biggest reason why this movie is worth seeing. It's genuinely fun to see Bautista and Nanjiani together. Their differences are stark, but they have real chemistry together. The energy and enthusiasm they bring to their roles are infectious. They create most of the film's best moments and are genuinely funny together. Not all the jokes laugh, but it's truly entertaining seeing these two interact.

The supporting cast is good, too. I was pleasantly surprised to see Mira Sorvino here. She does good work. I loved Bautista's mini Guardians of the Galaxy reunion with Karen Gillam, but the only complain is that her role isn't bigger. Natalie Morales was decent and Iko Uwais did some entertaining things. As a whole, the cast might not be close to A-list, but they were effective in their roles.

I did have some issues with the movie. First (and this is a bit nit-picky), Uber really seems to not be a great company. I've used them hundreds of times, but I really try not to anymore. I wasn't a big fan of the prominent role it played here. Fortunately, some people may not pick up on the Uber in "Stuber". The bigger issue I had is that the script lets the movie down. It creates some great moments throughout the film, but far too much of it feels redundant and generic. There's been a lot of "buddy" movies and this film nails too many of the typical cliches. It feels like it takes an awfully long time for the film to get where it's going, which isn't good when your film is quite short. It needed more focus and more originality outside of the pairing of the two leads. That's exactly the kind of movie this is- the most inspired thing it does is cast Bautista and Nanjiani. The rest of the movie is average, or even a little below. It needed to be far funnier than it was. Some of the recurring gags don't work at all, which is problematic because they keep coming back.

Stuber definitely has issues, although it's clearly not a bad movie. It's not surprising that the film didn't perform well at the box office. This is a movie that has some strengths, but ultimately is too derivative. It's a decent movie, but forgettable.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend:
The Big Sick, Hotel Artemis, Guardians of the Galaxy, Goon