Uber driver character runs out of road
IN 2017, Kumail Nanjiani played an Uber driver in Chicago chasing dreams of becoming a stand-up comedian in the uproarious romance The Big Sick.
It was one of the best films of the year and earned the leading man an Oscar nomination for his impeccable script.
Two years later, Nanjiani slips behind the wheel of a “silent but deadly” electric car to play an Uber driver in Los Angeles. This time he’s chasing dreams of romantic bliss STUBER (CERT 15) ◆◆ with his best friend in hare-brained action comedy Stuber.
Chatterbox nice guy Stu (Nanjiani) juggles a full-time job, where he is belittled by an oafish boss, with weekend and late-night shifts as an Uber driver.
He is stretching himself financially to invest in a women-only spin class run by his best friend Becca (Betty Gilpin), who he secretly loves.
Stu accepts a fare from Vic Manning (Dave Bautista), who turns out to be a muscle-bound detective with the LAPD.
Vic has just undergone laser eye surgery and needs Stu to ferry him around the city to capture a sadistic drug dealer.
It’s safe to say Michael Dowse’s caper won’t be wooing Academy Award voters in any category.
A mismatched buddy cop movie in the same vein as Beverly Hills Cop or Midnight Run, Stuber runs film dry of imagination and creativity well before Stu’s vehicle issues warnings about a flat battery.
Scriptwriter Tripper Clancy neglects to fill the film’s tank with snappy one-liners, relying on an increasingly shrill Nanjiani to spew leaden dialogue in misfiring scenes of verbal to and fro with Guardians of the Galaxy hunk Bautista.
Director Dowse’s unsatisfying film takes us for a ride.