Ever wonder what happened to good ol’ action/comedies like 48 Hours, Lethal Weapon and Beverly Hills Cop? We do. These movies weren’t what you’d call brilliant, but directors like Walter Hill and Richard Donner approached their subjects with gravity and grit, making the characters feel real and like more than mere composites on a page. As a result, the comic moments felt organic. The comedy was derived from the players’ unique personalities, not necessarily their situations. The explosions and jokes in these hits weren’t just thrown at you to keep you on your toes, they served as backdrops to the story and the star power on screen. Unfortunately, the delicate art of characterization hasn’t been Hollywood’s strong suit for some time. Studio heads apparently didn’t get the memo: less is more! You don’t have smash your audience on the head with a sledgehammer to get their attention.

Stuber is a perfect example of what contemporary filmmaking has been lacking lately. A shrill, ugly movie about society’s sad state of affairs disguising itself as a cute buddy comedy, it’s an exercise in cheap jokes and regurgitated action sequences that aren’t even original. It’s a “humorous” take on Michael Mann’s 2004 drama, Collateral, with a contemporary spin that brings nothing new to the story, which is already pretty thin and unlikely to begin with. The pairing of two talented actors like Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Kumail Nanjiani (Silicon Valley) can’t help levitate this one, either.

When Vic (Bautista), a broken-down detective gets some information regarding a drug deal that involves the man who killed his partner, he’s determined to get the bastard. But since he’s recovering from Lasik eye surgery and can’t drive, much less see five feet in front of him, he calls an Uber driver named Stu (Nanjiani). Stu and Uber — Stuber. Get it? Sigh…

Vic forces Stu to chase the bad guys around town, and guess what happens? You probably already know. This movie is simply a formula. Besides the slickly choreographed, tired action scenes, the biggest problem with Stuber is its stock, superficial characters. Vic and Stu feel like ideas in a pitch meeting, not breathing, fully-formed people. Not for a minute do we believe these guys would exist in real life. Yeah, it’s a movie, but that doesn’t mean the filmmakers have to keep reminding us of it.

So, while Stu is being forced to speed around town, getting yanked into dangerous situations, his main motivation for not escaping with his life is to earn a five-star rating? OK. Maybe if Stu and Vic had an ounce of depth and the filmmakers slowed things down with a few nuanced moments, we’d want follow them on this adventure. Instead, we have bland male stereotypes sniping at each other, conventional gunfights and lessons about love, all with the profundity of a bad sitcom.

Stuber has some moments. Kumail Nanjiani sustains a wide-eyed insouciance throughout the mayhem, which induces a few chuckles, and Bautista’s stone-faced takes are amusing. Still, this is shockingly middling fare; especially when television continues to churn out more stimulating, character-driven material with similar set-ups. If Stuber is any indication, Hollywood cinema is starting to sputter behind the zeitgeist, relying on fire and fart jokes. And Ubers. The premise had possibilities, but it took the easy route. Skip this ride, or at least go back in time and take a cab.

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