Stuber
(2019)A detective (Dave Bautista, Guardians of the Galaxy) recruits his Uber driver (Kumail Nanjiani, The Big Sick) to help him track down a killer in this buddy action-comedy from the director of It's All Gone Pete Tong.... More
When a mild-mannered Uber driver named Stu picks up a cop hot on the trail of a brutal killer, he must desperately try to hold onto his wits, his life and his five-star rating until the ordeal is over.Hide
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Directed by Michael Dowse ('What If', 'Goon', 'It's All Gone Pete Tong')
Starring Dave Bautista, Mira Sorvino, Kumail Nanjiani, Iko Uwais, Karen Gillan, Betty Gilpin, Natalie Morales, Jimmy Tatro
Written by Tripper Clancy
Out Now (On-Demand,
DVD or Blu-Ray)
Flicks Review
BY Daniel Rutledge Flicks Writer
The best thing about Stuber is the two leads, Dave Bautista and Kumail Nanjiani. Both have buckets of charisma and charm, and putting them together as an unlikely crime-fighting duo should only make their appeal exponentially greater. It is fantastic seeing them work together in this solid action/comedy, but it falls short of the greatness it should have achieved.... More
The second best thing Stuber has going for it is sweet as violence. I had no idea it was going to go as hard as it does with the frequent graphic headshots, a few wince-inducing broken bones and its nice, high bodycount. Yes, Iko Uwais's talents are wasted as they always are in American movies, but this is primarily a comedy and its great bloodiness is unexpected and delightful. Also, one of the funniest bits is a comedic fight sequence in a sporting goods store that drags on for an awesome amount of time.
What lets Stuber down is the script. Nanjiani has supreme comedy chops and his delivery is always on point, but the jokes written for him by scribe Tripper Clancy (seriously) are too often sub-par. Bautista fares better, mainly due to most of his comedic moments being driven physically rather than verbally. A lot of the jokes do land and there's plenty of chuckles in between the big laugh-out-loud moments, but then there are a fair few lame gags that let things down.
A lot of the plot points don't make sense and there's product placement galore, however, all that could be forgiven if it was washed down with more hilarity. Stuber doesn't completely waste the potential of the Bautista/Nanjiani cocktail, but if this was written by someone more skilled than Tripper it could've fit nicely in between Pineapple Express and The Nice Guys as a true modern classic of the buddy action/comedy genre.Hide
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Stuber
The Press Reviews
A riotous retro pairing of serious violence and serious laughs. Full Review
The deliciously antagonistic chemistry between Bautista and Nanjiani - who come across as more likely to murder each other than to die at the hands of heavily armed drug dealers - fuels this breakneck buddy movie. Full Review
Clearly surge pricing also applies to jokes, because it's mostly about as funny as a traffic jam. Full Review
It's not the clumsiness of the filmmaking that rankles so much as the hypocrisy. Full Review
"Stuber" squeaks by on the charm of its two male stars, who handle the nonsense capably. Full Review
When a comedy is as unfunny as this one, its stars tend to bear the full force of your irritation but in this case, all I felt was sympathy. Full Review
This talented ensemble will be happier with this misfire in their rear-view mirror. Full Review
There is bountiful chemistry between Nanjiani and Bautista, who spend most of the film loudly bickering. But the film's pure action elements often feel haphazard and clunky... Full Review
Barely earning a two-star rating, you should definitely swipe left on Stuber. Full Review
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