Stuber (2019)

Directed by: Michael Dowse | 93 minutes | action, comedy | Actors: Dave Bautista, Kumail Nanjiani, Mira Sorvino, Natalie Morales, Iko Uwais, Betty Gilpin, Karen Gillan, Jimmy Tatro, Steve Howey, Rene Moran, Amin Joseph, Christine Horn, Trevor Shand, Jared Logan, Kyle Zingler

The buddy flick is a remarkable genre. Put two opposites together and let them run through the image while bickering. At the end of the film, the duo has grown closer and learned from each other. It sounds so simple, but it isn’t. These types of films are mainly about the chemistry between the main characters. If there is no pleasant interaction between the duo that plays the lead role, the entire film is doomed. ‘Stuber’ proves, however, that there is more to making a good ‘buddy flick’. You couldn’t do it with chemistry alone…

‘Stuber’ revolves around the wall-to-wall Vic Manning (Dave Bautista). This policeman is chasing a criminal who leaves a trail of corpses. In his quest, he gets help from an Uber driver (Kumail Nanjiani) who transports him across Los Angeles.

Bautista was a famous show wrestler before he came to Hollywood. However, he wanted to follow in the footsteps of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and John Cena who also made the transition from the ring to the silver screen. Johnson started his career as an action star, but then decided to venture into comedy as well. Successfully. Cena took the same road. Bautista also tries this. In ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ he certainly proved his comedic talent, but in ‘Stuber’ he tries too hard to get the laughs on his side. That does not work.

Nanjiani regularly rubs against the irritation line, but thanks to the pleasant chemistry with Bautista, this duo continues to attract attention. It’s fun to follow this pair, but the film eventually starts to collapse. The humor is too interchangeable and the action too weak. Unforgivable when you have an action star like Iko Uwais. This best man showed in ‘The Raid’ and ‘The Raid 2’ that he masters the martial art Pencak Silat perfectly and is very flexible. Far too little use is made of his talent, so that ‘Stuber’ is relegated to a rather flat and flat action movie. With a better script and more fanciful choreography, this film could have done more.