Actioncomedy ‘Stuber’ stalls out

Dave Bautista and Kumail Nanjiani team up for “Stuber,” the story of a hardhitting police detective who drags a knockkneed Uber driver into his latest case. “Stuber” is a vehicle, forgive the pun, for its two leads: Bautista, a wrestlerturnedactor whose deadpan comic delivery is a high point of the “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies, and Nanjiani, a standup comedian still basking in the goodwill generated by his heartfelt 2017 romcom, “The Big Sick.” Both are wellliked faces but not yet fullblown stars.

“Stuber,” released by 20th Century Fox, feels like the big time: an Rrated comedy opening at American multiplexes in the middle of summer. For Bautista and Nanjiani, it’s a testdrive of their star power. Unfortunately, this weaklystructured comedy turns them both into crashtest dummies.

Nanjiani plays Stu, a lowpaid employee at a bigbox store who moonlights as an Uber driver in Los Angeles. One evening, Stu picks up Vic (Bautista), a cop who is in the middle of tracking down a local drug kingpin (Iko Uwais). Why does a cop need an Uber? Where’s Vic’s Crown Vic? Turns out the guy just had Lasik surgery and can barely see, a predicament that leads to such Mr. Magoo moments as fistfights with mannequins and conversations with people who are dead. Stu puts up with this halfblind yet triggerhappy cop for one reason: He’s desperate for a fivestar rating.

Clearly, this is not going to be “Lethal Wuber.” For one thing, director Michael Dowse has difficulty blending the genres of action and comedy. He launches the movie with a straightforward action sequence that includes some fairly strong choreography between Bautista and Uwais (an Indonesian martial artist who handled himself well in “Mile 22”) and an unnecessary amount of bloodshed. When Stu shows up, though, the movie shifts into Judd Apatow gear, complete with an emotionally needy love interest, Becca (Betty Gilpin, channeling Leslie Mann). As the film progresses, the smallbore jokes about app technology sit awkwardly next to the biggauge bullet wounds.

Nanjiani is illused in “Stuber.” His drippy character isn’t very compelling and the overall script (by Tripper Clancy) feels fairly anemic, yet it’s Nanjiani’s job to make all the jokes. That’s too much to ask of nearly anyone, let alone a gentle comic presence like Nanjiani. Bautista fares better by turning in a solid, neardramatic performance as a hardcharging cop. Like the mirthless alien he plays in “Guardians of the Galaxy,” Bautista’s Vic doesn’t think anything is funny and that’s precisely what makes us laugh.

Overall, due to poor navigation and tepid driver conversation, “Stuber” gets a low 1.5star rating.

Hopper Stone / Associated Press Dave Bautista, right, and Kumail Nanjiani, standing left, in a scene from “Stuber.”