Stuber (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)
Stuber, by definition, should not have been the failure it ended up being theatrically. The film has all the elements of a classic summer blockbuster — fights, gunfire, humor and an engaging overall story that isn’t hard to follow or boring. The pace is pitch perfect for multiple viewings at the theater too! But then, it just didn’t happen. As I sit baffled trying to ponder what might have been, take a moment to read on about the film below, which graced 4K fans with a great disc earlier this month.
Film 
Stuber centers around Stu (Kumail Nanjiani) a finishing-last nice guy who just can’t catch a break. Deep in debt to help fund his dream girl/friend Becca’s (Betty Gilpin) Soul Cycle rip-off, Stu is forced to lease a car and drive Uber in addition to working a dead-end retail job. He is teased, criticized and given many one-star reviews despite doing his best to make his riders happy. Enter Vic (Dave Bautista) an all-around bad boy cop. Mourning the death of his partner at the hands of Tedjo (Iko Uwais), Vic is at a loss trying to catch her killer. He’s been on the case for years, looking for clues and attempting to catch him with no luck. When Vic has a laser eye surgery, he is unable to see, let alone drive (in a hilarious scene, we see very clearly why) and has to call on Uber to get him to a meet up spot to try and catch his criminal.
As fate would have it, the two polar opposite personalities meet. In his leased electric car, Stu tries very hard to make conversation. Vic wants him to shut up and drive. But the attempts at some humility continue, and eventually Stu gets informed they’re on a mission to find Tedjo. Apprehensive, Stu wants to separate ASAP but as Vic reminds him, he still is depending on that 5-star review. Stuck with that information, Stu hangs on reluctantly. Together they encounter male strippers, drug mule dogs, gangsters, tricky cops and even Vic’s beautiful daughter Nicole (Natalie Morales). Vic also gets some help along the way from his boss McHenry (Mira Sorvino).
The pair work together well — a mess at first, with growing mutual respect over the runtime. Nanjiani is a natural comedic talent, delivering his lines with a naïveté and guy next door charm that makes him a lot of fun to watch. Dave Bautista continues to shine outside the wrestling ring, giving surprising depth to an often one-note type of character. Many scenes stand out, especially a fight between our two leads that is cringingly hysterical. I found myself laughing a lot throughout Stuber and was very impressed. Director Michael Dowse and writer Tripper Clancy have not really made many waves in the world of movies, but if this film is any indication, I can see more great movies from them.
It’s sad to think that this film made a paltry $22 million dollars in the US. This isn’t the type of movie that screams huge budget, total popcorn blockbuster at all, but it feels like this movie was a huge missed opportunity. Fox had just been purchased by Disney and then this film got blown away by the news it seems. Whatever the actual reason may be, a lot of movie fans missed out on what could be one of the funnier films of 2019… The concept is sound, silly and completely engaging. The carry out in the direction, thoughtful acting and comic timing all work out too. One just hopes that the film will find its audience at home and obviously, this 4K Blu-ray edition is the way to do it.
Video
- Encoding: HEVC H.265
- Resolution: 4K
- Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
- HDR: HDR10+
- Clarity/Detail: Right off the bat, from the opening moments of the film we are treated to a crisp and clear image. There aren’t any moments of note that appear soft. The details are evident in art galleries, police stations, dense apartments and a sporting goods store, among other interiors. The exteriors are also rife with details from grass, gravel, pavement and in crowd filled moments such as the opening scene.
- Depth: Depth is a treat on this disc as well. There is an added texture to every scene, set piece and piece of wardrobe. There are no moments that come to mind as having a flatness at all.
- Black Levels: With Stuber we have those dark and deep blacks with no crush evident anywhere.
- Color Reproduction: For a movie taking place in mostly blah Los Angeles landscapes we see a ton of great colors represented thanks to the HDR treatment. Blues, purples, reds and greens are all lovingly bright and lovely. Explosions are fiery orange and red as are gun flashes in action scenes.
- Flesh Tones: There are no wax figures in this presentation. Flesh tones are perfection throughout.
- Noise/Artifacts: Clean
Audio
- Audio Format(s): English Dolby Atmos, English Dolby 5.1 Descriptive Audio, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Czech, Hungarian and Spanish DTS 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1,
- Subtitles: English, French, German, Italian, Hungarian, Finnish, Korean, Portuguese, Czech, Norweigian, Swedish, Danish, Dutch and Spanish
- Dynamics: As an action movie first and foremost, this mix presents itself with gun fire, punches and thuds during its opening fight scenes. The soundfield isn’t meant for quiet moments, and even in dialogue driven scenes, sound carries throughout the channels with a great clarity and clean discrete placement of sound effects, dialogue and music.
- Low Frequency Extension: Actions scenes and music score dominate the low end. Actions scenes are punchy and bass driven and music has a nice thump as well.
- Surround Sound Presentation: Surround sound is again bested within the action scenes. Crowd and office din also goes into those channels and you feel as if you’re in those set pieces yourself at times.
- Height: Height effects are of course reserved for those ever present scenes of gunfire, fights, crowds, and occasional music cues, especially in louder scenes.
- Dialogue Reproduction: Clean and mostly in the center channel. Off camera dialogue does wherever the off screen character may be, be it lefts/rights or surrounds.
Extras
Stuber arrives home with a glossy slipcover, a standard Blu-ray (where it’s features are housed) and a digital code. The extras on the Blu-ray are:
- Gag Reel (HD, 3:01) – A typical, could be possibly funny set of outtakes.
- Joke-O-Rama (HD, 5:14) More outtakes, but this time the type where you see dialogue that might have been…
- Georgia Film Works (HD, 3:01) – A look at Georgia, where the movie was shot.
- Audio Commentary by Michael Dowse and Kumail Nanjiani
- Gallery (HD, 1:45) – Stills from the film
- Theatrical Trailer (HD, 1:57)
Summary
In truth, I didn’t expect to enjoy Stuber as much as I did. It’s lightweight, funny, fast and easy to follow. But those are most certainly complimentary words. I enjoyed the chemistry between Dave Bautista and Kumail Nanjiani. They have great timing. The story may be a simple one, but there is a rewarding and very funny action film here that deserves a larger audience. Definitely a recommend from me!
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