Stuber - Review

Release Date: July 12, 2019​​​​​​​​​

Is Funny Enough?

​Big named comedians usually prop up small movies as a way to attract people to see it. It's the only way stories with smaller scopes can avoid being put on streaming services. So with the release of Stuber, a comedy with no big name comedian attached, I wonder why it is coming to the big screen. Just from the trailers, you can tell what kind of experience you'll have watching it; it will live or die by how funny it is, and even that won't save it. The broader movie-going population will steer clear of anything that doesn't come from Disney or doesn't promise to be the next mega-blockbuster. So the ultimate question then becomes, should you see Stuber in theaters?

Comedies over-rely on low brow humor, stuff that you see in modern Will Ferrell movies, but there isn't much of that here. Stuber has a variety of different jokes and takes the time to craft them. In most instances, it's the relationship between Kumail Nanjiani and Dave Bautista that earns each laugh. Every other instance is filled with zippy one-liners that feel like they were made up on the 

spot. The only moments where something funny doesn't land can be attributed to an imbalance in that relationship. 

​Other than the two leads, there are a couple of other things that the film gets right. The lighting and color grading separate it from Netflix Originals. It's obviously low budget but would seem out of place coming from a streaming service. It has the perfect level of polish that would have been perfect two to three decades ago. 

The biggest problems that hold Stuber from being a must see in theaters comes down to scope and story. With minimal action, a small number of locations, and only a few actors in the movie; this is not what audiences choose to see. The lack of character development also hits the quality of the film. The overall plot is very familiar, reminiscent of pre-2000s flicks that became classics it lacks a story.

Stuber is probably one of the funniest things you can watch on the big screen right now, which isn't saying much. Just don't expect anything too deep and take all the social commentary with a grain of salt. Though seeing it in a theater will be fine, watching it at home once you can see it on a streaming service also works. 

6/10
​I'm actually curious who is seeing this in theaters. If you actually do, drop a comment or tweet me