Stu + Uber = “Stuber.”
Who’s Stu? Stu’s a narrow-shouldered, effete, meek, mild, polite, fastidious Indian man, living in America (played by Kumail Nanjiani). He works as a retail clerk at a sort of Home Depot and Costco mash-up, but drives an Uber to supplement his income. Stu’s also viciously sarcastic, with world-class, passive-aggressive, comedic timing.
Kumail Nanjiani plays an Uber driver in Twentieth Century Fox’s “Stuber.” Twentieth Century Fox/Disney
Stu has a highly unintelligent, bullying boss who calls him “Stuber.” Stu does not like his boss, or his job. Stu also, unfortunately, doesn’t love his Uber gig because the endless stream of messy, rude people who enter and exit his leased, electric Uber car is constantly putting Stu’s star rating in jeopardy.
Enter Vic
Vic (former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) wrestler Dave Bautista) is an enormous, blind cop. Blind? Blind because he just had LASIK eye surgery. But when he hears that a dangerous drug dealer (Iko Uwais) he’s been tailing for a lengthy period of time is on the loose, Vic jumps in his car, runs over a mailbox and a small tree, and lands in a ditch. Vic must therefore call an Uber.
Dave Bautista (L) and Kumail Nanjiani in Twentieth Century Fox’s “Stuber.” Twentieth Century Fox/Disney
So “Stuber” is kind of buddy-cop movie combined and an odd-couple movie: a cop reluctantly teaming up with a regular Joe, like “Rush Hour” and “48 Hrs.” Vic’s a bull in a china shop, and Stu’s an Indian version of Tony Randall from “The Odd Couple,” except upgraded with millennial-speak and 2019 potent sarcasm, and lots of man-screaming (because Vic does dangerous things).
Vic and Stu’s Excellent Adventure
So, we already talked about Vic’s LASIK, but I didn’t mention that Vic scheduled his LASIK appointment on the same day as an art-gallery sculpture debut by his estranged daughter (Natalie Morales). So Vic should attend that, but he’d rather chase his drug-dealing perp. This kind of thing is, of course, the reason they’re estranged.
Iko Uwais (L) and Dave Bautista in Twentieth Century Fox’s “Stuber.” Twentieth Century Fox/Disney
Now Stu, years before, managed to friend-zone himself with Becca (Betty Gilpin), the love of his life. But he never told her how he felt, so she started dating a famous athlete, who then dumped her. Now she’s depressed and needs comforting; this is Stu’s chance. He desperately needs to drive over to Becca’s and say nice things.
But then rude, messy Vic gets in his car. As mentioned, Vic, after blindly landing in the ditch, has to use the Uber app that his daughter installed on his phone for him.
