Stuber (2019)
Where the premise of Stuber doesn't really stand out at first and sounds like a very generic comedy film it was the actors who made me really interested in this movie. Ever since The Big Sick Kumail Nanjiani has been on the top of the world as he brings a wonderful charisma and energy to every movie he is in. Dave Bautista also continues to impress me with every role he is in and I was ecstatic not just to see another film with each of these actors but also to see how they worked together, I really didn't know what to expect from this unique pairing as I really haven't seen either man in a role like this. Luckily for this film, it really is this pairing that makes this film work and even something I would recommend to most people.
Both of these men are so funny in this film, I was particularly interested in how Dave Bautista would do and where I can't say a ton of the comedy in this movie is original as it follows a pretty basic big tough guy meets little weak guy dynamic they have a real chemistry that makes it able for me to look past most of the weaker comedy dynamics. With that said I do think this is extremely well written especially for a comedy, not only do all the dialogue and jokes feel natural but this a really solid comedy film when it comes to setting up jokes that will pay off later in the film. Normally when a movie tries to do this it feels really out of place and you are just waiting for the payoff which is distracting and hurts the rest of the comedy, but in this film, it is smooth and comes off as really clever. The pacing in this film is also really solid, again it does follow a pretty basic layout which easily could have felt boring like the film was going through the motions but it rarely did, it had a charm that was just strong enough to get the audience through the film without these feelings for the most part.
If you cannot tell already where I do think this film is legitimately funny and has great acting the story is really where it falls in my opinion. I have mentioned how the comedy does a good job masking this but there are plenty of scenes where we focus solely on the deeper emotions especially with Dave Bautista's character which never really worked. This movie didn't need to dive so much into his life in this way and it just felt wildly out of place. Overall I would say that the emotions in this movie are a miss even beyond this character, it works best when it is just trying to be funny with these fun characters and the crazy situations that they get themselves in, but whenever it tries to go deeper (something a film like Blockers nailed) it felt like this movie fell off the rails and it did take a good minute to get it back on track.
Still, I think as a comedy Stuber overall does work pretty well and I hope that when it comes out in July people do go to see the film. If you want an actual laugh I think Stuber will deliver for you. I just wouldn't go into this movie expecting any really great or unique depth.