Stuber

When a mild-mannered Uber driver named Stu (Kumail Nanjiani) picks up a passenger (Dave Bautista) who turns out to be a cop hot on the trail of a brutal killer, he’s thrust into a harrowing ordeal where he desperately tries to hold onto his wits, his life and his five-star rating.

Stuber is a really unique film, not only does it provide the typical crime-fighter action we are used to, but it mixes this with a really well known and completely different theme - taxis and taxi drivers, or more specifically, Uber’s. I thought that the way in which humour was used, alongside traditional action movie elements was really clever. This results in a really funny, yet interesting movie with a powerful punch. I was quite surprised by the length of the film however, 93 minutes sure does seem short when compared to many other films that are released hitting an average of 120. But it’s not the size that counts, it’s what you do with it ( ;) ) And that leads onto my question. Does this film pack a real punch or does it feel Uber bad? Here are my thoughts...

I’ll start off with what I liked. I thought that first of all, the way in which the film started and that we were introduced to the characters and storyline was great. Not only did we witness the death of Vic’s partner which added purpose and meaning to the rest of the film, but we also got a great idea of the two main characters in the film, by seeing them compared against one another to show us the differences in their personality and character types. But these scenes were also really important to establishing the story too, because the death of Vic’s partner helped to identify the villain in the film, as well as allowing us to understand his anger and revenge that he sought throughout the film, which helps to ensure that we can follow and understand what is happening and why. Seeing the various shots of the two characters was just generally entertaining though, mainly because it helped to link them both together in a way where we were told that they were completely different character types - which caused entertaining and funny clashes. I thought that from here on, the best part of the film was definitely the character relationships and how they were represented in different ways. There was a lot of humour and genuinely funny lines in the film, they were specific jokes but the lines and the perceptions of characters we were given were great, not only did they make us laugh but they also just helped to make the film much more enjoyable because we really felt entertained regardless of the scene. This was due to the fun and engaging main characters being the main part of the film, from calling out “help we’re being chased by a killer” in a warehouse going over the tannoy, to the strip club scene and then the managers humour when they are caught fighting in the store - there’s a lot to be enjoyed in this film and this is mainly down to the awesome characters. The characters are great generally too, not only are they brought together really smoothly by Vic having eye surgery so he couldn’t drive, therefore he calls an Uber but they integrate with each other well too which makes the film a smoothly ran film and easy to understand. The other smaller side characters also help to make the film funny and somewhat serious too, from surprise character twists like at the end where the Policewoman is the mole in the organisation, to the side story which involves Vic’s relationship with his daughter, and Stu’s relationship with his friend. I think that these really help the story to move along and stay interesting because not only is there a single storyline but there are multiple, so when one becomes a little slow and boring, then the others can step up and entertain us by providing something a little different, and to portray the characters in a little bit of a different light. As well as this, some of the most critical elements of a good buddy comedy are connection and chemistry because if you don't connect with the characters, you don't really care about them. Bottom line, if the characters don't have chemistry, whatever else you pack in there isn't going to work effectively, and the chemistry isn't there on-screen. Both Dave Bautista and Kumail Nanjiani work with what they've got, and they do a great job - not only do they help to make the characters seem somewhat interesting but they also make typical Uber drivers and their issues seem somewhat realistic in the film, like the Uber drivers from this film genuinely remind me of some of the drivers I have had - but with obvious twists which is what I love. The actors really seem to fit their roles well and it shows, because of how much chemistry they seem to have! There’s no faulting either of the leads for making the most of it at every opportunity. Across a series of supporting turns, Bautista has carved out his niche as a colossal character actor. This was especially exciting when the two main characters fought in the shop, not only was it funny to witness them turning on each other but seeing them fighting in a comical environment was really enjoyable and helped to personify the toxic masculinity argument by essentially putting the masculine vs emotional types against each other. This was arguably one of the best scenes in the film because of how funny it was seeing them fighting in a comical way and felt very cleverly done to create a twist and challenge an important issue in a funny way!

As a gifted physical performer, he gets a lot of comic mileage out of simply squinting in the face of danger for the duration, but he’s also funny and highly watchable as a damaged alpha male who hates asking for help of any kind. The characters in this film feel not only intelligent but also really funny, like there are serious topics and issues raised in the film, relating to toxic masculinity which I really like because it is relevant and tackles it in a funny way, making it entertaining yet relevant and important. But there are also really serious and ‘edge of your seat’ scenes such as when Vic is nearly shot and there is a standoff at the end, and the way in which these two types of funny/serious scenes are executed feels very good and clean. Fans of Guardians of the Galaxy will get a kick out of seeing Karen Gillan and Dave Bautista together in the beginning without all of that MCU makeup on.

I also thought that the plot was really good, I especially liked how there seemed to be a mission type of feeling to the film. I really liked this actually, it felt almost like a video game where the characters would go to a location, find information and move somewhere else - it’s simple but it works here and keeps it simple and entertaining. I also just generally think that the plot idea for the film is really good, I like how Uber (a popular taxi service) is making its way into films, seeing a perfectly normal thing you see every day transformed into a really funny film is really unique and definitely feels like it brings something fresh and exciting to the market. But the plot is kept simple which ensures that it can be easily understood, as I mentioned, the ‘mission type’ feel helps to ensure that one event happens and then we move onto another one, the plot is simple and it helps to establish the film as a straight forward action/comedy film which can be enjoyed. The film combines a series of humour and seriousness where appropriate though which I thought was integrated into the film well, seeing how the film's plot incorporated serious issues in society into a comedic effect was great and really worked out well. There's a lot of action. Be prepared for John Wick style, action with blood and guts!

This film wasn't a 5-star trip though, and there were a few problems that I had with the ride. The main problem that I had was that it just didn’t feel massively professional for some reason, like many of the emotions and scenes felt like they could’ve been much more intensified to really create an exciting and important effect. The film was exciting but it felt like it had potential to really excite us long after leaving the cinema, unfortunately it just didn’t. There’s also so much uniqueness about this film, but so much cop cliché too: the death of a partner, unlikely partners, a mole in the force, frustrated family member, flawed hero, etc. All of these are so typical and boring to find in a cop film, so much more could have been done to make Vic feel unique and different, instead of the same as basically every other cop in an action film. Not much fits together. It's as if this was only the second draft of a project that would ultimately need five or eight drafts to be good. The secondary characters were haphazard, and many were not at all fitted into the big story. I will avoid all potential spoilers, so let me just say that several female actors played characters who just sort of showed up, related to nothing, then moved on. It just definitely felt like far too little attention was paid into how much of an effect that the background characters would have on the film, and then this meant that they didn’t feel like they had a purpose, which led us to question why they were even there? It was a good movie, but not enough was done to make it powerful and exciting enough to really make a splash in the box office. Heck, for the first 30 minutes I wasn’t really sure what the point of some of the scenes was!

Overall, I would give this film a 7.5. It’s a shame because there were so many good parts to the film, but it just felt a little bit lazy in some aspects where typical and cliche characters were used, as well as not focussing much on background characters or making the film powerful. The characters were great though, and I loved how unique the plot was in theory, but in reality, it didn’t feel like it was that well put together, unfortunately. Would I recommend this film? Yes, I would, it still feels entertaining and will definitely be difficult to go the duration without laughing, but don’t expect to be talking about the film much after seeing it.

Thank you for reading my review, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did watching the film and writing this. I hope you have a lovely day! :)

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