Stuber is a 2019 buddy action comedy film directed by Michael Dowse (Fubar 1/2, What If, Take Me Home Tonight, Goon, & Preacher). It’s considered a loose remake of 1998’s Taxi. It was written by Tripper Clancy (Four Against the Bank & Hot Dog). It was produced by actor John Francis Daley (Freaks and Geeks, Bones, Waiting, Horrible Bosses, & Game Night), Jonathan Goldstein (Four Kings, $#*! My Dad Says, The New Adventures of Old Christine, & Good Morning, Miami), & Jeremiah Samuels (Let’s Be Cops, Brothers, Sleepless, & X-Men: First Class). It’s the first R-rated film released by 20th Century Fox since its acquisition by The Walt Disney Company. The budget was $16 million & it grossed $32.4 million worldwide!!!!
Stu Prasad (played by: Kumail Nanjiani from The Big Sick, Dolittle, Men in Black: International, & Fist Fight) is a sporting goods retail salesman during the day where he’s tormented by his boss Richie Sandusky (played by: Jimmy Tatro from Super Troopers 2, The Guest Book, & 22 Jump Street) & a Uber driver by night that’s obsessed with getting his first 5-star review in the app. Los Angeles Police Department detective Vic Manning (played by: Dave Bautista from the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, WWE, Avengers: Infinity War/EndGame, Escape Plan 2/3, Spectre, & Blade Runner 2049) has been on the trail of criminal Oka Tedjo (played by: Iko Uwais from Wu Assassins, Mile 22, Triple Threat, & The Raid 1/2) after he killed his rookie partner Sara Morris (played by: Karen Gillan from the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, Avengers: Infinity War/EndGame, The Big Short, & Jumanji franchise) six months ago. His boss Angie McHenry (played by: Mira Sorvino from Mimic, The Replacement Killers, Summer of Sam, Quiz Show, Beautiful Girls, & Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion) encourages him to take some time off due to his obsessive search & revenge for the known drug lord.
Vic decides to get laser eye surgery & plans to support his daughter Nicole’s (played by: Natalie Morales from Santa Clarita Diet, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Battle of the Sexes, & White Collar) art show that same night until he gets a call from an informant about a drug deal that’s about to go down that leads to Oka. Since he is damn near blind, he is forced to look for a ride there. Stu is trying to win over his best friend & crush Becca (played by: Betty Gilpin from The Grudge, Glow, A Dog’s Journey, & Nurse Jackie) when Vic gets in his car for a Uber ride. Stu tries his best to entertain the customer but Vic is not having it. After a rough meeting, Stu tries to leave Vic after dropping him off but he is forced to stay. They go to several LA locations including Koreatown, a strip club, the animal hospital, art gallery. & other spots. Each location ends up more dangerous for the unlikely duo. Vic & Stu go up against the gangs of California to solve this mystery. They start to have their own little war when the situation gets worse. Can they survive each other before taking out some of the worst character around????
Stuber is my current favorite comedy of 2019, it’s flat out hilarious & it has so many laugh out loud moments. The buddy comedy sub-genre is one of my personal favorites & honestly it’s not done that much these days, it was huge in the 80s. Besides this being beyond funny, it has lots of action in it. It had more violence than expected with some real brutal outcomes. The balance between the humor & chaos is perfect here. It has a nice flow to it & it’s never dull during it’s whole running time. The chemistry between Dave Bautista & Kumail Nanjiani is amazing. Those two really take command of the screen when they are in the same scene. Both of them shine in this type of film. It’s the true highlight when it comes to Stuber. I am a big fan of Iko Uwais & it’s cool to see him getting more films in America now. He is a unique villain & he’s a good counterpart to the two leads in this. It has a solid supporting cast that includes Mira Sorvino, Natalie Morales, Karen Gillan, Steve Howey (Shameless), & Betty Gilpin that boosts the overall production. I was very impressed by the script & the soundtrack. I seen this in theaters earlier this year, I thought it was even better on this revisit so the replay value is strong for this. As far as movies this year goes, this is definitely one of the funnest, funniest, & most entertaining features that I’ve experienced, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!
Let’s talk about the high definition presentation from 20th Century Fox! This 2160p (2.39:1) transfer with HDR10 looks fantastic in 4K. Stuber really captures Los Angeles with it’s variety of locations during the running time. This release is loaded with various audio options that includes English: Dolby Atmos, English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1, French: DTS 5.1, German: DTS 5.1, Spanish: DTS 5.1, Italian: DTS 5.1, Japanese: DTS 5.1, Czech: Dolby Digital 5.1, & Hungarian: Dolby Digital 5.1 on this UHD. This is the true highlight when it comes to the technical aspect of this release. The dialogue is crystal clear, all the action has a killer boost to it, & the music is elevated here. It has all kinds of variety when it comes to subtitles which includes English SDH, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Hungarian, Korean, Norwegian, & Swedish. Very impressive technical 4K, both picture & sound are a very high quality with lots of different languages!
Let’s discuss the special features from 20th Century Fox! “Audio Commentary” by director Michael Dowse & lead actor Kumail Nanjiani is the only extra that’s featured on the UHD disc. They joke about the Fox logo changing soon since Disney bought them. They bring up that it’s the first Rated-R film from them since 2013. They chat about the fight scenes, action, & violence. They talk about the cast & their experience on the production. They bring up the chemistry between the two leads. They point out some filming locations & other movies that they used them. They joke around & have nice chemistry here. It’s a fun track plus it has some nice info on it. The rest are located on the blu ray. 5 “Deleted Scenes” that end up a little over 4 minutes plus it has optional commentary with director Michael Dowse & lead actor Kumail Nanjiani. I can see why these were cut but they are a nice bonus to have. A little over 3 minute “Gag Reel”. It has some hilarious bloopers from the set. A little over 5 minute “Joke-O-Rama”. It’s very similar to the gag reel but it has additional dialogue & alternate lines thrown in. “Georgia Film Works” is a little over 3 minutes & it’s an animated short full of info about the state working in cinema. Georgia is the number one filming location in the industry now. It almost 2 minute “Gallery” that shows off some pictures from the feature. Last but not least, a “Theatrical Trailer”. Lots of smaller bonus material here but it’s better than nothing. The buddy comedy sub genre is back, at least for now so add this hilarious flick to your collection. It also has a slipcover, a digital code, & a blu ray copy of the release. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!
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