Stuber Review: The World's Worst Round in Uber Becomes Comedy Popcorn

AUSTIN, Texas – The month of July has barely begun, but we have finally reached the peak of 2019. This weekend, a film whose beginnings are based in a non-ironic way on the market of the app market. 39, modern applications will make its appearance.

"Uber hates this film, by the way," said comedian Kumail Nanjiani after many RTX Austin 2019 viewers watched his carpool movie, "Buddies-80s", Stuber. "It's about a guy who kidnaps someone in an Uber, it's as if Titanic was made for Carnival cruise ships. "

If you immediately hear "Uber" and "movie" give you chills, do not worry: Stuber turns out to be less of a marketing grab than Strange things 3. The ubiquitous modern taxi company has no direct involvement even though it has a role to play, said director Michael Dowse. This is due to the Kleenex principle: using a fake brand would immediately get people out of the movie.

So, to avoid being sued for defamation, the Stuber The team used Uber correctly on the screen, which included evaluation drivers, destination definition, and participation in Uber pools (all with no real interface). With the help of this base, filmmakers may have built the most unexpected comedy of the year. And if you need additional proof that things were motivated by comedy and not by commercialism, look at the movie's main vehicle, a Nissan Leaf. The electric vehicle without gasoline could ignite after some epic car chases.

"With the Nissan Leaf, we have just added a line in ADR [Automated Dialog Replacement, or dubbing], "Nanjiani says." & # 39; No, how did it explode ?! It must have been propane! & # 39; – Ok, now Nissan is totally cool with that. "

Prepare to be stubified

In StuberStu (Nanjiani) works part-time at a sporting goods store and drives to Uber to allow him to make a small nest egg to help / impress Becca (Betty Gilpin, GLOW). It's the woman he loves and who, of course, regards it as a platonic shoulder on which to cry. His brother Richie (Jimmy Tatro, American Vandal) finds the whole hilarious set and opts for walks wherever possible. He even gives a nickname to his favorite employee: Stu-ber. (Editor's note: I know, I know. It's getting better. Stay with us.)

Elsewhere, Vic (Dave Bautista, Guardians of the Galaxy and Blade Runner 2049) works for the Los Angeles police and tries to apprehend the heroin trafficker who kidnapped her partner once upon a time. This pursuit removed Vic from the nascent artistic career of his daughter Nicole (Natalie Morales). He was so absent that he programmed Lasik, which he needed so much, the very day of opening his first show.

So, to make sure her father participates in the show, Nicole picks up her father's phone and installs Uber (a guy should not drive after the Lasik, after all). But before Vic defines the gallery as his first carpool destination, he receives advice about another big drop of product involving his white whale heroin trafficker. Whatever the poverty that shares the sap of the sharing economy, this concert will have more than they had planned and, unfortunately, this sap is sweet.

"Oh, I understand," Stu said as they began their carpool experience. "Let me take you to all the Sarah Connors of the city."

A movie that knows what it is (and offers nothing more)

Although this is based on this very modern vanity, Stuber it seems like a dead end: a comedy for friends that could have existed in the 80s, 90s or early 2000s. These types of films are turning more and more directly to streaming or, to tell the truth, not do not exist in light of the economic realities of the film industry (nowadays, if you do not indulge in a critical adoration of Moonlight or the box office of Avengers, why bother?). From time to time, an independent studio lands on a movie that feels fresh –Booksmart of Annapurna presented a last comedy of boyfriend in high school, from the point of view of a woman, for example – but Stuber represents a rarity. In an era of sequels, remakes and adaptations galore, 20th Century Fox has produced an original comedy in the studio. This deserves to be defended, even though the film borrows a lot from all the previous buddy movies.

Stuber the reverence for the formula has its advantages and disadvantages. On the disadvantages side, it means Stuber has no real female characters of substance despite the appointment of three likeable actors (Morales, Gilpin and Mira Sorvino, winner of an Oscar) in her three biggest female roles. An overwhelming amount of Stuber focuses only on Vic and Stu, and they simply do not have much to do outside of reciprocal interactions.

For all Neil deGrasse Tyson moviegoers who are obsessed with a logical gap or factual inaccuracy to the point of ruining a cinematic experience, Stuber maybe not for you, either. Why would Stu not cancel the ride?, you ask? Well, he fears that falling under four stars would hurt his ability to save enough to help Becca open a spin studio. The fireworks do not stop there.

That said, Stuber offers a surprising amount of pleasure. It begins with the undeniable chemistry between Nanjiani and Bautista, which turns out to be the kind of couple you would look forward to adapting various genres of films (see also: Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly, Kevin Hart and The Rock, Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, etc.).

"As soon as you found them in the same room, it was automatic one minute after they were in the same frame," says Dowse. "Kumail obviously gives credibility to the action; Dave, credibility to comedy." It would not exclude an entirely different sequel or movie featuring the budding comedy duo.

All along StuberThe physical presence of Bautista plays easily with Nanjiani's ruthless, devaluing and intellectual style. (Dowse says the screenplay made everyone laugh, but the filmmakers left plenty of time for improvisation: "You have so many alts [alternate takes] as you can in the following sequel, and you will have a more funny movie. These are mathematics. ") Some of the best moments of the film come from the fact that the duo tackles the same task in a very different way.The very millennial methods of questioning bad types of Nanjiani could be StuberIt's the best thing to do, and the opposing fighting philosophies of both actors may flourish in the film's most delightful battle scene this year.

Ka-Blammo

Talking about that, Stuber has a surprising amount of set pieces for a film that sometimes can give the impression Harold and Kumar (who's a cop) go to the White Castle. Bautista obviously thrives in this aspect, and the film is played by famous stunt choreographer Iko Uwais. That means Stuber offers a higher caliber of combat sequence than its humorous predecessors. Car lawsuits taking advantage of Stu's rented Nissan Leaf at shootings at vet, Stuber Never forgets his comic center entirely, even if his trends in action films are in the foreground.

Bautista and Uwais both made their own stunts. "I'm neither Tom Cruise nor Jackie Chan, I'll be in my caravan," Nanjiani said. "You can do shit, so I'll go in and shout," Ahhhh! "If I can prevent it, I'll never do a stunt of my life."

You can hear about Stuber plot or catch the trailer and think: "We've already done it, is not it?" Of Midnight race at 22 Jump Street at Men in black, the history of cinema is littered with unlikely and incompatible pairs that unite to face the evil.

But all these films do not have the obvious thought and care Stuber displayed. When the film asks a cop to embark too quickly in a car of color or in an unlikely romance, the film recognizes these things directly to the public (usually through a side Nanjiani). And although she uses this familiar and dated machismo (up to the female characters subscribed) and the violence of the genre, Stuber so do some clear comments on embracing your emotions, admitting that you need help or defining masculinity outside a Bautista chiseled box.

Stuber will not win at the Oscars or dominate the box office (good luck coming out of theaters a week before The Lion King). But a delightful popcorn movie, capable of releasing laughter reliably and catching a few surprises, is far too rare nowadays. The name of the movie might be a little stronger for the promotion, but I would not change anything else about this perfectly flawed movie B. Marketing has clearly not been a priority for Stuber anyway.

Stuber presented for the first time at SXSW 2019 and comes in theaters this weekend.

20th Century Fox Registration Image