Stuber

“Hey, lemme guess, you want me to drive you to all the Sarah Connors in the city?”

Filmology Rating: 2 out of 4

It’s hard to look at a film like Stuber and not think of all the better films that came before it: Hot Fuzz and 21 Jump Street to name a couple.  Even The Heat, which is a film I thought moved the dial back on female action led films, had more to offer than this film.  While Stuber might be trying to be a callback to buddy cop films, Lethal Weapon, or the classic “odd couple” stable that films will always rely on, Toy Story and The Odd Couple being the two most popular films.  The point is that it felt like the script of Stuber written by Tripper Clancy had been gathering dust for years and needed another polish before any filming could have started.  If you are trying to make a film that clearly references other better films then you better have something to add to the conversation.

Stuber is the biggest ad that you have ever seen for Uber.  While I, like thousands of other millennials use Uber, I never needed to have an entire film dedicated to trying to have me take an Uber after my screening.  This film was basically like The Internship, which was a giant commercial for Google, however Stuber uses the same jokes as that film and this one came out six years after.  Just because millennials and generation Z like more efficient ways of communication and transportation doesn’t mean you need to shove it down their throats.  The only people that I believe the Uber plot points of the film will appeal to are those who have never used the rideshare app, they will find this film to be revolutionary.  

Can we also mention how Los Angeles is having a heat wave, one of the hottest weeks in recond.  Do I have any reason to actually mention this? No. Does the film need to bash it in numerous times how hot it is without really paying off?  No! While understanding that this is a complete nitpick, you should realize that every line of dialogue should either help advance the story or give motivation and life to either the setting or the character.  I never felt the heat in this film, I never felt myself gasping for water like I do in films like Lawrence of Arabia or 12 Angry Men.  Stuber has a brisk running time of an hour and thirty minutes but it felt like I was being strapped to my chair for three hours waiting for freedom.  To say that the film moved slowly from beat to tedious beat would be an understatement.  

Since I have been rather negative on the film I feel that I should mention that the film isn’t the colossal train wreck that I have been depicting.  If the film could rely only on the charisma and charm of Dave Bautista and Kumail Nanjiani then the film would be considered an Oscar worthy film that will be talked about for generations to come.  Bautista is best known in the cinematic world for his work as Drax in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, in those films he comes across as the action badass who takes the world literally, which makes for the comedic gold that the character is known for.  As for Nanjiani, The Big Sick which he starred in and co-wrote remains one of the best romantic comedies ever put on the silver screen.  The dry comedy that Kumail delivers is always humorous and relatable. I usually find his style of comedy to be relatable and offer a sense of edge to it, but the script for this film clearly isn’t using him to the best of his abilities.  If the duo were given a script that was even mediocre I would like to believe that they could make the content work, but since the script lets them down at every turn they find themselves unable to be the saving grace of the film.  

A word of caution to the reader; if you found the trailers for the film humorous like I did, those brief segments are all of the jokes in the film.  This is yet another example of the marketing department having no idea how to advertise the film so you are shown all of the jokes before ever paying for the ticket.  Save your money and just watch the trailer again and think about what could have been, instead of the generic comedic muck.  

Rating: Skip It 

-Jonny G