This is the second film in a row which
I rated higher than pretty much everyone else. Am I losing my touch with
the common folks? Or am I like that college professor that everyone wanted
to get into his class because he passed you just for showing up. I sort of
feel like that. This was entertaining enough. It showed up. Some decent laughs,
a little heart-warming at the end and it is only 90-minutes. The first thing
I do when I put a film on is to check the duration - if it is around 90-minutes
I let out a sigh of relief - if it hits 120-minutes I have a debate with
myself whether I want to dedicate that much time to this film. More often
than not, I hit the decline button. I love Bollywood which can go for 3-hours
but that has a little bit of everything. This was silly fun. It is a comedy,
not an action film which I think most people seem to have been expecting.
It stars Dave Bautista and Indonesian action star Iko Uwais so thinking that
is not surprising - but after an early action scene it quickly turns itself
on its head and goes for laughs. And got some from me.
Ok - yes, it is another buddy film which
might automatically make one wince. These have probably been around since
Shakespear and they are all basically the same and filmmakers never seem
to tire of them. This film weirdly most closely resembles that Tom Cruise/Jamie
Foxx film titled Collateral in which Cruise hires a taxi to go around and
wait for him while he makes a few hits. That wasn't a buddy film since they
wanted to kill each other - this one is with sort of the same plot. Except
it is an Uber driver. And it's a comedy. But a lot of people are still killed.
But the writers had to have seen Collateral and thought what if we made it
into a comedy and instead of a killer it is a cop who needs a ride and the
driver is a wuss. And they argue and fight and insult one another till they
work together - wait - that is the definition of a buddy film.
In that opening action scene Bautista and
his female partner are after drug dealer Uwais in a hotel and after Uwais
scales down the floors, he escapes and Bautista becomes obsessed with getting
him. His boss played by Mira Sorvino tells him to drop it. He is nearsighted
which is why Uwais got away the last time when he lost his glasses and so
he gets laser surgery and has blurry vision right afterwards. And that is
the day he hears that Uwais is back in town. He can't see. He goes after
him anyways and after wrecking his car, calls an Uber. The Uber driver is
played by Kumail Nanjiani (Silicon Valley) and I always appreciate his lowkey
comic delivery. And that is basically the film as Bautista won't let this
poor schlub go on his way - and the woman he loves wants to have sex with
him. Again, it is a buddy comedy film - there is action but nothing to get
excited about. Uwais disappears for most of the film. And it is 90-minutes.
