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It’s kind of common knowledge that getting into an Uber (or Lyft, who’s discriminating) is a bit of an interesting experience. Being that these are just general people moonlighting as professional cabbies, you get a whole swatch of American sub culture that is just atypical of your usual cabby stereotypes. You can get the soccer mom chatting your ear off, an ex military vet looking make a few bucks on the side, or some guy who’s DEFINITELY been taking some illicit substances before turning on the engine and picking you up. This is kind of the case with Stuber, but in reverse, as one of the tag lines of the movie is that it’s the driver who’s in for a bit of a surprise this go around.
Stu (Kumail Nanjiani) is a downtrodden big box store worker who’s trying to make the best of his life. He’s in love with his friend Becca (Betty Gilpin) with which he is starting a small business with, his boss is a complete jerk, and he’s moonlighting as an Uber driver on the side to make a few extra bucks (which is where he gets the nick name Stuber from….Stu + Uber = Stuber, thanks to his jerkish boss). However, his day turns upside down when a police detective named Vic Manning (Dave Bautista) calls him for a pickup (only to subsequently kidnap and force him into a classic buddy cop type of movie).
Vic is on the tail of a criminal by the name of Oka Tedjo (Iko Uwais) who killed his partner Sara (Karen Gillan). The only thing is, he’s partially blind as he just had laser surgery on his eyes that morning, and they haven’t recovered just yet. So now Vic is forced to schlep around in an Uber with Stu, and utilize his car to take down Tedjo once and for all.
The humor in Stuber is a bit hit or miss, which is a sad thing considering how much I like Kumail’s dry sense of humor. It really seemed like his and Bautista’s chemistry was never 100% spot on, meaning that the humor that Kumail is so known for didn’t work with Bautista’s growling super cop persona. However, the movie sometimes dives into super violent action, complete with people getting their brains blown out, double crosses and several executions. The action with Iko Uwais and Dave Bautista was probably the best part of the whole movie, as it was the least humor filled sections. The stunning martial artist and the WWE star do well together on screen as action foils, but it’s really the inclusion of so much humor that drags the action down, especially since Stu can’t keep his mouth shut.
Rating:
Rated R for violence and language throughout, some sexual references and brief graphic nudity
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
• Gag Reel
• Joke-O-Rama
• Georgia Film Works
• Audio Commentary by Michael Dowse and Kumail Nanjiani
• Gallery
• Theatrical Trailer
• Sneak Peak
Final Score:
Stuber looked a lot funnier in the trailer, and as an action movie it’s rather lacking in many ways. Kumail and Bautista make for an amiable enough duo, but their chemistry isn’t top notch to say the least. The movie has enough action and enough laughs to be INTERESTING, but most of the humor fell a bit flat as Kumail’s style of comedy just didn’t seem to mesh as well with Dave’s brooding physique. The movie is entertaining enough as a rental, but the great video and the awesome audio track for the 4K UHD makes it a bit more palatable as demo material. Either way, this is really a rental at heart unless you have a big thing for either of the actors.
Technical Specifications:
Starring: Dave Bautista, Iko Uwais, Mira Sorvino, Kumail Nanjiani, Natalie Morales, Betty Gilpin, Karen Gillan
Directed by: Michael Dowse
Written by: Tripper Clancy
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 7.1, Spanish, French DTS 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, French SDH, Spanish
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Rated: R
Runtime: 120 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: October 15th, 2019
Recommendation: Rental