Kim's Movie Korner

Movie Review: Stuber 

It’s hot and I was in the mood for a good laugh.  A trip to the movies to see Stuber sounded like a good way to cool off, relax, and be entertained.  Starring the likeable and unlikely pairing of Dave Bautista and Kumail Nanjiani, previews for Stuber look like a modern day take on buddy cop/action/comedies. The premise suggests  48 Hrs meets Collateral.

To say that Stuber failed to meet my expectations/hopes is something of an understatement.

The film largely gets the polar opposites and action parts right and by in large that’s where the entertainment comes from.  However, the comedy aspect falls woefully short.  Most of the jokes range from  dated to unfunny and “land” (proverbially speaking) like a lead balloon.  Sprinkled sparsely among those are a few and far between “ha, that’s amusing,” bits.  With the rare, “oh, that’s funny” to laugh-out-loud punch line.

Bautista and Nanjiani’s characters, Vic and Stu, ( respectively) isn’t anything too taxing to the imagination or intellect and play toward standard 2 dimensional stereotypes.  The film and their interaction consist of the two shouting at each other and arguing about what constitutes a “real” man.  Loud, but boring.

Speaking of boring, with a run time of a mere 1 hr 33 minutes, sitting through this disappointment
should’ve been relatively painless, but it wasn’t.  The pacing of the film, like much of the tone, is off and it drags feeling like it’s much longer.  I was shocked when I looked at my watch afterwards and saw how much time had actually elapsed compared to how it felt.  Never a good sign.

Stuber is one of those films that on paper has the potential to be so much more.  Unfortunately, on the big screen it’s a waste of time, money, and gas.  You’d probably have a better time paying surge pricing for a trip to the dentist for a root canal.  Wait until it’s on cable, you’re sick at home, realize you left the remote on the other side of the room, and feel too crappy to get up to get it to change the channel to see this one.

Because there is a good soundtrack, decent action, and I do like the two leads, I’m giving Stuber and overly generous 3.