Stuber (film)


Stuber is a 2019 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Michael Dowse and written by Tripper Clancy. Its plot follows a mild-mannered Uber driver named Stu who picks up a passenger who turns out to be a cop hot on the trail of a brutal killer. Iko Uwais, Natalie Morales, Betty Gilpin, Jimmy Tatro, Mira Sorvino, and Karen Gillan also star.
The film had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 13, 2019 and was theatrically released in the United States on July 12, 2019. Stuber was produced and released by 20th Century Fox. The film received mixed reviews from critics, who criticized it for not taking full advantage of its potential but praised Nanjiani and Bautista's chemistry.

Plot

Stu Prasad, a meager Uber driver obsessed with getting his first five-star review in the app, is forced by an aggressive Los Angeles Police Department detective Vic Manning to drive him around town to catch notorious drug lord Oka Tedjo. For Vic, it is especially personal, as Tedjo had murdered Sara Morris, Vic's rookie partner, six months earlier. However, Vic is unable to do the task alone as he recently got a laser eye surgery that prevents him from having good sight.
Along the way, Stu deals with Vic's deranged behavior while trying to express his feelings to his friend Becca. Stu and Vic confront each other about Stu's inability to man up while Vic is called out for his toxic masculinity and negligence toward his daughter Nicole as it draws similarities to the attitude that Vic's own father had shown him.
Clues lead Stu and Vic to travel to various locations in Los Angeles, such as Koreatown, then a male stripper club and a house in Long Beach when Vic detains a key suspect of his investigation and rescues the dog Pico from being drugged to hide the evidence. However, Stu accidentally shoots the thug in the leg and Vic leads them to an Animal Hospital where a group of thugs find the two and try to attack them. While Stu is scared, Vic manages to take control of the situation by making Stu throw dog food cans at the thugs and shooting those who got stunned.
Vic, using the phone of one of the thugs, sends a text to their leader to inform of "his" death and then runs to Nicole's museum exposition to warn her about the impending danger. Meanwhile, Stu struggles to keep his relationship with Becca, a friend and partner of his in an upcoming spin biking gym who is heartbroken due to a fight with another love interest and is wanting him come to her home to get drunk and have casual sex. However, Stu is more interested in dating her instead.
Eventually, Stu and Vic face Tedjo at the location of his drop, where Vic finds that Captain McHenry is a dirty cop who has been working with Tedjo and was planning to frame Vic for murder to get him off their trail. Stu does admit he loves Becca, but then realizes it would not work since he knows she does not feel the same way and that they should not even be friends.
Stu and Vic work together to take down the villains, but Nicole ends up in the mayhem when she finds them and is nearly shot by Tedjo. Stu takes the bullet, and Vic almost kills Tedjo before Nicole stops him, and the cops arrive to bring Tedjo to justice.
As Stu and Vic recover in the hospital, Vic finally gives Stu a five-star Uber review, and Becca has started up a successful spin biking business. Vic arrives at Nicole's for Christmas with the dog he found earlier, only to discover that Nicole is dating Stu.

Cast

Production

Development

In April 2016, 20th Century Fox bought the spec script Stuber from Tripper Clancy for a mid-six figure deal, with Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley set to produce the film.

Casting

In December 2017, Dave Bautista was cast as a "detective who commandeers an unsuspecting Uber driver named Stu" while Michael Dowse was announced as the director of the film. In March 2018, Kumail Nanjiani signed on to costar with Bautista. In April 2018, Iko Uwais joined the cast. In May 2018, Betty Gilpin, Natalie Morales, Mira Sorvino, Steve Howey, and Amin Joseph joined the cast. Ramin Djawadi was originally supposed to score the film; later it was announced that Joseph Trapanese would score the film.

Filming

commenced on May 3, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia and was shot until July 2, 2018.

Release

Stuber had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 13, 2019 and was released on July 12, 2019. Following their acquisition of 20th Century Fox, the film was Walt Disney Studios' first film to receive an R-rating by the Motion Picture Association since The Fifth Estate.

Home media

Stuber was released on Digital HD on October 1, 2019, and was released on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K Ultra HD on October 15, 2019.

Reception

Box office

Stuber has grossed $22.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $9.8 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $32.2 million.
In the United States and Canada, the film was projected to gross $7–15 million from 3,050 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $3.1 million on its first day, including $750,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $8 million, finishing fourth at the box office. In its second weekend the film made $4.1 million, dropping 50% and finishing sixth.

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 41% based on 215 reviews, with an average rating of 5.06/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Though it makes a strong case for future collaborations between Kumail Nanjiani and Dave Bautista, Stuber fails to mesh its contrasting genres, settling for an overtly violent, mildly entertaining diversion that's far from a five-star ride." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 42 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it an average 3.5 out of 5 stars and a 51% "definite recommend".
Peter Debruge of Variety gave the film a positive review and wrote: "It's both funny and familiar to see these two incredibly different personalities thrust together for what's meant to be a short ride."
Glenn Kenny, writing for RogerEbert.com, said "The only thing worse than hot garbage is elaborately lukewarm mediocrity, and for too much of its running time, the new comedy Stuber is just that." Simon Thompson of IGN wrote: "Stuber is an awkward, uneven action-comedy that never realizes its full potential. It squanders a good premise and an odd couple pairing with potential that could have delivered something special." A. A. Dowd of The A.V. Club gave the film a grade C−, calling it "a big waste of talent".