Unfinished Stuber Review — JackScholtz.com

Reader Beware, I saw this movie and started this review back in April and never got around to finishing the review. So here are my incomplete thoughts on Stuber. It is very fun and well worth a watch.

“When my mom died, she looked peaceful. These guys don’t look peaceful. They look murdered.”

When I saw that there was a showing of this new movie, Stuber, being offered in my area I was really confused. I had just seen a lot of press after SXSW when it premiered and was bummed I was going to have to wait until July to watch it. Here we are though, I somehow got to see this buddy cop comedy more than 2 months before it’s release. And boy am I pissed about it, because I have to wait 2 months to go back with all my friends to see it again.

I’ll be honest here, I have no idea what the marketing strategy is behind a stunt like this. I’ve been lucky enough to get tickets to a handful of movies a week or two early, but nothing like this before. The crowd that was there was also a pretty generic crowd that you’d expect from a movie like this. Past the opportunity for some loser kid that wants to write a review on their dinky website 2 months early (HMU Rotten Tomatoes), I really don’t see most of those people remembering to tell their friends and family to go watch this movie because by the time it comes out they’ll be talking about it like its old.

Anyway, Stuber is about Kumail Nanjiani’s character, Stu, that also happens to drive for Uber. Get it, like Stu-Uber, but it’s one word so it’s funny. Well Stu is just a guy that works at a big sporting store and drives for Uber to rake in some extra cash. He’s had a crush on a girl for years and she just isn’t into him. So, you know, he is just your average Uber driver. Then we have Vic, he is an old gruffy policeman who has been out for the vengeance of those who hurt his partner. Dave Bautista plays the big tough guy to a tee, channeling the same humor that he uses for Drax. Vic decides to treat himself one day and finally get Lasix, and then a big lead finally comes in after years of hunting. Since he can’t drive himself, he calls an Uber.

Hilarity ensues as our unlikely pairing is taken from destination to destination, with Stu helping Vic connect to the human and loving side of him again. He helps him rekindle his relationship with his daughter, and look for the best in those around him; meanwhile, Vic shows Stu how to be angry by putting him through hell and murdering dudes all day every day (*said dudes are bad guys). The constant headbutting and bickering between the two is the highlight of the film. Nanjiani seems to just be improving off-the-cuff for a lot of his lines, but it always works. That’s why having a superstar comedian in these movies always works so well, especially when he is facing off against a man like Bautista who can say the most ridiculous things and keep a straight face just adds to the hilarity. Natalie Morales plays Vic’s daughter and she is also really funny, but also has a lot of heart in her performance to really add the emotional factor that you need for a movie like this to be believable. If the audience has no emotional connection to the film their watching, then it just doesn’t feel real and the humor feels more forced.

I put this in a similar line with Game Night, Blockers, and Tag from last year. It is just a solid buddy cop comedy that far exceeded my expectations. I don’t think it has the layers and hits on all cylinders like Game Night did, but it definitely holds its own. I don’t think the movie had been rated yet when I watched it, so I was pleasantly surprised when I got a few solid R-rated action sequences.

AAAND Fin. Greatest review of all time? Probably. So here’s the final score or whatever.