Stuber focuses on an Uber driver named Stu, played by Kumail Nanjiani, who winds picking up a detective named Vic Manning, played by Dave Bautista. Vic has been tracking down a drug lord named Oka Teijo, played by Iko Uwais, who murdered his partner, played by Karen Gillan, in a previous attempt to catch him. He obtains some information that will lead him directly to Teijo, but the issue is he just had laser corrective surgery earlier in the day and has difficulty seeing anything as he recovers from the surgery. He forces Stu to drive him to each new lead he uncovers, roping Stu into a violent, madcap adventure.
This is very much a buddy cop movie, a genre once popular in the 1980’s and 90’s with films like Lethal Weapon and 48 Hrs. but has since waned going into the 2000’s. And while it’s refreshing to see the genre isn’t completely dead, one thing that is worth noting is that there are a lot of tropes that come with that genre, a lot of which are played out here. Vic is avenging the death of someone he cared about. Stu is more laid-back than Vic, and the two get into constant bickering. Meanwhile, Stu has a love interest who he has trouble expressing his feelings for, while Vic has family troubles of his own. Many of these cliches have been seen in plenty of other movies of this nature.
It’s a very formulaic movie, and one that often plays it safe. While there are some scenes that tend to go over-the-top in terms of comedic interactions or violent shootouts, these moments are very minimal. Comedies that really push the envelope with its R-rating are also the kind of movies that have decreased in popularity, especially after the mid-to-late 2000’s and this movie had a chance to really inject some new life into that little niche of the comedy world. Instead, it often feels like the movie gives the bare minimum in order to secure its R-rating and then otherwise sticks to the basics of the buddy movie.
There are some standout interactions, including a handful of exchanges where Stu calls Vic out for his toxic masculinity and telling him that men should be allowed to express their feelings more. This did make for some decent social commentary, as this is a topic that has received some prominent attention in the last year or so. However, the topic is only explored in a couple of scenes and most of these exchanges are summed up in a few lines and wrapped up neatly before moving on. This is a problem that occurs through most of the movie, as it feels like it goes through the motions, rushing to make sure it hits each of the required dramatic beats, before going into the next one.
The only aspect of the movie that makes this truly enjoyable are its two stars. Both Kumail Nanjiani and Dave Bautista are great together as the mismatched pairing. The material they have to work with isn’t exactly the best, especially when they’re left on their own, with cringe-worthy instances such as Bautista attempting to drive after his surgery and clumsily apologizing to civilians he almost hits, or Nanjiani arguing with himself over a sexually explicit text he’s sending to his love interest. However, when they’re together, this movie shines, and it’s clear that they’re doing the best they can with what they’re given and make it work. Both actors have become much more prominent figures in comedy in the last few years, and their sense of comedic timing is very apparent in this film, and a big part of what makes many moments in this film fun to watch.
While the two leads are great together, unfortunately the supporting cast is completely underutilized here. Which is a shame because there are a lot of talented names that make appearances here. Karen Gillan is totally wasted as Bautista’s fallen partner, spending her brief time in the film’s opening sequence just shouting generic lines that every other cop in a movie has said before. The same can be said for Mira Sorvino, who plays Bautista’s boss and has not one line of memorable dialogue in the entire movie. Betty Gilpin plays Nanjiani’s love interest, who’s only seen through FaceTime conversations where her conversations are limited to discussing how the two are going to have sex. Meanwhile Iko Uwais is by far one of the most underwhelming movie villains in recent memory, remaining totally silent and only making sporadic appearances to get into a shootout with the two leads before disappearing.
Natalie Morales and Jimmy Tatro are really the only standout performers among the main supporting cast, even if they both wind up being highly underutilized as well. Morales plays Bautista’s daughter, and while their storyline hits every single beat of the typical “troubled parent-child relationship” trope, she does bring a lot of energy to the role, and is by far one of the most likable supporting characters of the bunch. Tatro appears as Stu’s boss at his day job, essentially playing an adult version of his Dylan Maxwell character from American Vandal, which makes for a fun extended cameo, even if he is only given so much to do. Also making a brief appearance in the movie is Shameless’ Steve Howey, who also plays essentially a version of his character from that show, which leads to one of the film’s funnier exchanges.
Stuber is fairly entertaining at times, though it is also very problematic. Rather than take full advantage of its R-rating by going all-out with the comedic violent exchanges, it instead mainly sticks to generic, Odd Couple-like exchanges and familiar dramatic beats. It has a talented supporting cast, nearly all of which go to waste, as it quickly rushes from scene to scene and never expanding on some of its more unique exchanges. The only reason to stick around to the end is due to the comedic talents of both Bautista and Nanjiani. While they both aren’t given the best material to work with, they are a fun pairing, and manage to make the most of what they have, leading to enough enjoyable moments to get the audience to the end of the ride.
Recommendation: Proceed With Caution
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