Stuber (1/10)

by Tony Medley

Runtime 90 minutes

R

There are bad movies…and then there is Stuber. There should be a reason to make a movie. Apparently the alleged reasons for this movie were money, humor, and violence.

As for money, it couldn’t have cost too much to make because, with one exception, it is peopled with actors who have not yet arrived. Dave Bautista, for example, is a former wrestler who hasn’t yet come close to reaching Duane Johnson status. The others were people who probably were happy to work for scale. The one exception is Mira Sorvino, an Oscar®-winner in 1995 for her work in “Mighty Aphrodite,” who apparently ran afoul of the Weinstein curse and hasn’t been able to find roles suitable to her talent and looks for more than 20 years. It’s sad to see her in a film like this in a minor, but pivotal, part.

As to violence, directed by Michael Dowse from a script by Tripper Clancy, the film starts with a bang with a patently ludicrous fight involving Vic (Bautista), a brutal LAPD cop and his partner who are chasing after a vicious criminal.

It proceeds apace with Vic having to commandeer an Uber car driven by Stu (Kumail Nanjiani), a soft spoken man who is pursuing an unrequited love affair. Stu is pulled into Vic’s violent confrontations, all of which involve absurd fights with virtually no negative consequence to the participants even though as few as one of the innumerable blows would be enough to incapacitate or kill anyone other than an actor in a film.

As to humor, it is so juvenile that it’s unlikely that any reasonable adult could be brought to even a smile; groans are more likely.

The best part of this film is the fadeout.