“Stuber” (R)
Despite Dave Bautista and Kumail Nanjiani’s best efforts, the ride-along cop comedy “Stuber” can’t ever gain any speed thanks to a lame premise and dependence on annoying slapstick.
Coming off a small yet another amusing turn as Guardian of the Galaxy Drax in “Avengers: Endgame,” Bautista finds himself in one of the two lead roles in “Stuber,” about Stu (Nanjiani), an Uber driver – hence the nickname Stuber – who finds a ride from hell with Detective Vic Manning (Bautista). Vic has horrible vision without his glasses on, a condition that led to a tragedy involving his detective partner. Wisely, Vic gets Lasik surgery, but shortly after he had the procedure is done and his vision is still poor, the detective gets a tip about the criminal that’s been eluding him.
AUDIO: Tim reviews “Stuber” with Paul Douglas and Jordana Green on “Paul and Jordana” on WCCO-AM. Segment brought to you by Mike Bryant and Bradshaw & Bryant.
Vic’s only option is Stu the Uber driver, who reluctantly carts around the hard-hitting lawman, who seems to leave a thousands of dollars of damage in his wake everywhere he goes. And even though he’s hoping for a golden 5-star Uber rating for driving Vic around, Stu is hoping to get out of the mess as soon as he can so he can meet up with his business partner, Becca (Betty Gilpin), who he’s in love with but can’t quite muster up the courage to tell her.
There’s no question Bautista and Nanjiani make for a likeable duo in “Stuber,” but overall, the film relies too heavy on action comedy tropes that run the film right into the ground. Besides, a plot about a visually challenged cop who damn near kills people because he recklessly insists on getting bad guy is completely unrealistic and is more maddening than funny.
There’s a reason this film was dumped into an unfavorable summer slot the week after “Spider-Man: Far From Home” opens and a week before “The Lion King” dominates the box office. It’s a one-note comedy that will try to make a splash before it’s gone in theaters and likely forgotten.
Lammometer: 3 (out of 10)
AUDIO: Tim talks to the top movies of the summer (so far) and reviews “Stuber” with Tom Barnard on “The KQ Morning Show” on KQRS-FM. Segment brought to you by Mike Bryant and Bradshaw & Bryant.
Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for “The KQ92 Morning Show,” “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC), WCCO Radio, WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere.
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