Stuber (2019)

Time was, a full movie like Stuber didn’t stand out as an utter anomaly in the Hollywood landscape. Michael Dowse’s buddy-cop comedy has a premise ripped straight from such classics as 48 Hrs., but with references updated for the 21st century. Vic Manning (played by Dave Bautista), a loose-cannon detective on the trail of a drug lord, commandeers an Uber from a mild-mannered guy named Stu (Kumail Nanjiani); the pair speed around Los Angeles and enjoy some jokey male bonding along the way. The film has everything you might expect from an odd-couple ’80s action movie, including shoot-outs, profane back-and-forths about each character’s masculinity, and an ensemble of supporting female characters who aren’t given a ton to do.

For years, this kind of film was practically a monthly offering from major studios. Now, though, the small and low-stakes Stuber feels like a welcome departure from the mega-budgeted epics that crowd theaters every summer. That’s not to say it’s good, exactly, but it’s short (a breathtaking 93 minutes!), packed with salty one-liners, grounded by two lovable leads, and comfortingly predictable—the kind of routine project that at one time would have dominated Blockbuster shelves for months. If you’re looking for a throwback to simpler, sillier times (with a dash of self-awareness about the state of toxic masculinity in 2019), it should just about satisfy. watch movie online or free download from filmxy.