Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Stuber Blu-ray Movie Review

Sorry, Stu, no five star rating here, either.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 17, 2019

Maybe some of you have what might be called your own “Uber adventures”, since with many of these ride sharing or “taxi” like apps, you can sometimes not know what you’re getting into (in more ways than one) until it’s too late. My wife and I just returned from an excursion in Europe, and we were kind of surprised to discover in at least a couple of cities that there is actually either very little or in some cases no longer any kind of municipal cab service, and that Uber is in fact the only way to figuratively “hitch a ride”. (Lyft doesn’t seem to have made much if any of an impact in Europe, from what I could see, anyway.) Stuber takes place within the confines of the United States, and in fact within the confines (such as they are) of Los Angeles, but one of the kind of cheeky subtexts of the film is that its the driver, not the passenger, who's in for a bit of a surprise in terms of the so-called ride sharing. This is a putative "high concept" film that will still strike many viewers as essentially derivative, revisiting such well remembered efforts as Midnight Run or maybe even in a way something like Planes, Trains & Automobiles, in terms of two mismatched people forced to take a road trip with each other. Stuber coasts quite a considerable way on the combined charisma of headliners Kumail Nanjiani and Dave Bautista, and the supporting cast has some enjoyable turns, too, but the film never really develops into the comedy juggernaut that some might be expecting, given the talents involved.

Stuber is one of those films whose basic set up is mind numbingly simple, but which also needs an almost insane number of supporting elements to make it all “work” (work being a relative term in this instance). Among these arguably over labored plot points is the fact that policeman Vic Manning (Dave Bautista) suffers from some pretty severe eye problems, resulting in the need for corrective surgery, surgery which in turns leaves him half blind for a lot of the film. On the other end of the “partnership” the film is obviously geared (no pun intended) toward Uber driver Stu Prasad (Kumail Nanjiani), a hapless schlub who is desperately trying to make ends meet, not just with his driving job but with a clerk position at a store run by a kind of bantering nemesis named Richie Sandusky (Jimmy Tatro).

Stu’s financial straits are exacerbated by the fact that he’s handed over a huge amount of money in order to help Becca (Betty Gilpin), a woman whom Stu has romantic pinings for, but who has “friend zoned” him, for the most part, anyway (there’s some kind of curious content here about so-called “casual sex” which seems to kind of undercut some elements of this particular subplot). A series of quick vignettes documents Stu’s tribulations as an Uber driver, with a series of horrible passengers, all of whom give him very low ratings, which in turn threatens his “future” (such as it is) with Uber. An underlying plot element is therefore Stu's quest to secure a five star rating from someone (anyone?).

The entire plot hinges, however, on the exploits of a criminal named Tedjo (Iko Uwais), a bad guy who (minor spoiler) kills Vic’s partner in the film’s over the top opening sequence, and who then (of course) escapes. That of course sets Vic out on a quest for revenge, and kind of predictably rumors of Tedjo’s reappearance occur just as Vic is recovering from Lasik surgery. Without “official” police support from his superior Captain McHenry (Mira Sorvino), you can probably guess how Vic decides to chase after Tedjo.

A series of at times patently bizarre situations is doled out as Vic and Stu slowly bond, despite the fact that Stu is of course distressed to be involved in some kind of quasi-undercover operation. Side trips involve a male stripper club and a veterinary hospital, which may be more than enough to indicate the lengths that scenarist Tripper Clancy (perhaps my new favorite name for a screenwriter) goes to in order to wring laughs from this enterprise. That said, the comedy here (and there is comedy, albeit fitful at times) tends to be delivered more from one off throwaway lines than any situational weirdnesses (of which there are plenty).

Not to be too cheeky about it, but one of the problems with Stuber is how many detours it takes off on. These involve not just the aforementioned dysfunctions between Stu and Becca, but also between Vic and his daughter Nicole (Natalie Morales). There’s also a late reveal involving a supporting character this is both completely predictable and just maddeningly cliché ridden, leading to an expected showdown with equally expected outcomes.

While Nanjiani has his kind of awkward sweetness shtick down to a tee here, for some viewers it may be Dave Bautista who is the real surprise in the film. He of course manages the physical side of his role without any problems, but he’s also a surprisingly spry sparring partner for Nanjiani’s character, and he delivers some of the frankly duller expository dialogue with a nicely natural mien. The supporting cast can come across as a slightly desperate for laughs at times (mostly Tatro, who occasionally seems to think he’s making another YouTube video).

Note: My colleague Brian Orndorf liked Stuber even less than I did. You can read Brian's thoughts here.

Stuber Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Stuber is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. The IMDb lists Arri Alexas Minis as having been used for the shoot, but IMDb doesn't list the resolution of the DI, which I'm assuming was finished at 2K (if anyone knows differently and can point me to authoritative data in that regard, as always, let me know via Private Message and I'll post an update to this review). This is an appealingly sharp and well detailed looking presentation almost all of the time, despite some expectedly smoggy vistas of Los Angeles and a few interior scenes where lighting regimens aren't especially strong. While the palette looks natural for the most part, there's a weird kind of yellowish tint that I noticed on occasion. That said, the palette here really isn't meant to "pop" in any significant way, and as such vivid hues can tend to be isolated to occasional elements like pieces of clothing various characters wear. There are a couple of late scenes that play out in darkness and bad weather, and those have minor deficits in shadow detail, notably toward the edges of the frame. As is usually the case with Fox Blu- rays, I noticed no issues with regard to compression anomalies.

Stuber Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Stuber features an enjoyable DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 mix that gets things off to a blistering start with a big fight (and later shootout) sequence involving Vic and his partner, who are trying to bring Tedjo to justice. The driving environment provides a glut of well placed ambient environmental sounds (though in one of the film's better done bits, Stu drives an electric car, which of course makes no sound itself, something played for laughs a couple of times). There are some pretty boisterous set pieces in this film, including a huge maelstrom at the vet clinic, and LFE can be quite forceful at times. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout this problem free track.

Stuber Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 4:35) feature optional commentary by Michael Dowse and Kumail Nanjiani.


• Gag Reel (1080p; 3:01)


• Joke-O-Rama (1080p; 5:14) is basically outtakes with the actors riffing.


• Georgia Film Works (1080p; 3:01) is an animated promotional piece touting the state as a filming locale.


• Audio Commentary by Michael Dowse and Kumail Nanjiani


• Gallery (1080p; 1:45) features either an Auto Advance or a Manual Advance option. The timing is for the Auto Advance option.


• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 1:57)

Stuber Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I actually had a couple of friends share with me how much they enjoyed Stuber when they saw it during its theatrical exhibition, and it's easy to see why, really, since the story is familiar but tweaked just enough to keep it interesting. But I simply found a lot of the comedy decidedly in the meh category, and the film's sudden departures into more graphically violent territory just didn't mesh all that well with whatever comedy was being aimed for. Nanjiani and Bautista make for an amiable enough duo to spend time with, and fans of these performers or of other members of the supporting cast will probably find this an agreeable enough time killer. Technical merits are solid for those considering a purchase.