and a little shrill. Nanjiani and Bautista, the
hulking former wrestler best known as Drax
in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” films, make a
suitably odd pair. Stu is sensitive and nerdy, and
desperate for his best friend (Betty Gilpin) to
take him seriously as a romantic partner. Vic is
gruff and bumbling and often appears almost
literally as a bull in a china shop.
Tripper Clancy’s script — a kind of comic version
of Michael Mann’s “Collateral,” with Tom Cruise
as a contract killer and Jamie Foxx as his cabbie
— crafts a hardly novel running dialogue of
masculinity. Occasionally, it hits just right, like
when Nanjiani summarizes their dynamic:
“You’re built for justice. I’m built for brunch.”
But most of the time, it flails around in a stale
routine. During a fight at the sporting goods
store, Stu exclaims: “Real men cry!”
The movie’s premise is one long Uber ad, but
it’s a clever enough buddy comedy setup, and
both Nanjiani and Bautista are good comic
performers. So what’s missing here? Part of the
trouble is that Bautista is playing too much to
type (the twist on his brilliant Drax is that he’s
lovably emotional), and few actors benefit from
having their eyes taken from them.
That leaves most of the comedy to Nanjiani,
and he does an admirable job trying to give
the material a lift. But director Michael Dowse
(“Goon”) struggles to find the right tone, leaning
more into slapdash action scenes than jokes.
Any chance of sustained chemistry between the
two leads recedes in the rearview mirror.
“Stuber,” a 20th Century Fox release, is rated R by
the Motion Picture Association of America for
violence and language throughout, some sexual
references and brief graphic nudity. Running
time: 105 minutes. Two stars out of four.
antfer
(Antfer)
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