The new Blu-ray of Stuber only has about four deleted scenes and they total only about five minutes, but I wanted to draw attention to them because I appreciate that director Michael Dowse and star Kumail Nanjiani were willing to point out why a scene was left on the cutting room floor.

Too often with a deleted scene, the common refrain from the commenter (assuming one is even included) is that all the stuff was great, there was just no time for it. Dowse and Nanjiani are fully willing to admit why certain scenes didn’t work, and I think that’s far more illuminating for the filmmaking process. For example, one scene features the camaraderie between Stu (Nanjiani) and his crush Becca (Betty Gilpin), but as Dowse points out, you don’t really need the scene because that relationship was established elsewhere so even though the jokes in the scene are working, it just slows down the movie. Elsewhere, Dowse and Nanjiani point out a scene where they actually filmed in L.A. where the movie is set (most of the movie was shot in Georgia) and they ended up cutting it anyway because even though it was more difficult and more expensive to shoot it, ultimately it only provided exposition that slowed down the picture.

Regardless of your feeling on Stuber (I enjoyed it even if a majority of critics did not), I like special features like this because it’s not just enough to include a deleted scene. You really need that commentary to explain why it was left off and have the commentary be insightful and honest enough to say if a scene wasn’t working. I appreciate the candor from Dowse and Nanjiani about their movie.

Stuber is now available on 4K, Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD. The disc’s other specials features are a gag reel, audio commentary from Dowse and Nanjiani, gallery, trailer, and an animated ad for Georgia Film Works featuring Archer star Amber Nash.