Jesse Eisenberg is a respectable actor, especially after his Oscar- nominated performance in the biopic 'The Social Network' which centered on Mark Zuckerberg, the inventor of the popular social media website Facebook. Here, he reunites with director Ruben Fleischer after his comedic role in the hit horror-comedy 'Zombieland' in this raunchy action comedy that allows him to stretch his comedic muscle. Blending a wild surplus of lowbrow humor and mean-spirited gags, this comedy delivers some good moments. But by the end, achieves a laugh-a- minute rate that makes only for an acceptable comedic fare. Eisenberg plays Nick, a potheaded slacker who holds a job as a pizza delivery driver who struggles to deliver his pizzas on time (within 30 minutes), much to his boss's dismay. He lives with his best friend Chet (played by Aziz Anzari) who becomes appalled when he learns Nick has been secretly dating his twin sister Kate (played by Dilshad Vadsaria) which causes a rift in their friendship. Meanwhile, two unemployed friends Dwayne and Travis (played by Danny McBride and Nick Swardson) who are living with Dwayne's wealthy, but selfish dad (played by Fred Ward). They have plans on opening up a tanning salon, but do not have the money to do so since Dwayne's dad refuses to do his share. The two hire a Mexican hit-man Chongo (played by Michael Pena) to kill his dad and steal his fortune, but need money to pay him. So the two thugs kidnap Nick and strap him into a bomb vest set for ten hours, and order him to rob a bank for $100,000, or else it will explode. Nick gets help from Chet in a wild robbery that turns into a series of hysterical events.
Some may be profoundly shocked to know that this film's plot carries a striking resemblance on the collar bomb case that took place in 2003 in Erie, Pennsylvania, where a pizza driver had a bomb strapped on his neck, and was forced to rob a bank. This film however, is not particularly based on the actual event, and is reasonably more light-hearted than what took place. Ruben Fleischer's previous film 'Zombieland' was hilarious and smart as it needed to be, mixing raunchy humor with a gleeful amount of blood and gore for engaging comedic effect. This however, is much more raunchier, meaner, and foul- mouthed than the hit zombie comedy, and though it fails to obtain the level of laughter the former achieved; Fleischer still manages to work for the least. This action comedy plays like a violent live-action cartoon with scenes of car chases, gun threats, and of course, the light-hearted bank robbery that serves as a key point to the plot. And the main duo to the ball-to-the-walls chaos is Jesse Eisenberg and Aziz Anzari who are both somewhat and show a fair amount of comedic chemistry between each other. Trading some vulgar, but hilarious dialogue in nearly every scene of their presence, these two actors show that they have their comedic energy packed inside. Danny McBride and Nick Swardson who step foot into the antagonist roles however, don't have a lot of funny dialogue, and instead treat audiences with rather generic sex jokes that either not funny or just plain distasteful. The former makes his best effort to bring out the laughs by going trigger-happy with one profane slur after another, and the results just fall flat. Then there is a hot-tempered hit-man played by Michael Pena who is not known for many comedic roles, and doesn't wastes his comedic energy here in favor of a more jarring role that comes as rather off-putting than funny. In an essence, he feels criminally miscast. Eisenberg and Anzari are the only ones who manage to keep the film moving and engaging.
30 Minutes or Less may have have some flaws needling through its core, but it is an engaging comedic fare that delivers some good laughs to appeal to an acceptable comedy demographic. In this case, this if high unlikely that this one will go down as a classic in its genre, but still warrants for recommendation.
Some may be profoundly shocked to know that this film's plot carries a striking resemblance on the collar bomb case that took place in 2003 in Erie, Pennsylvania, where a pizza driver had a bomb strapped on his neck, and was forced to rob a bank. This film however, is not particularly based on the actual event, and is reasonably more light-hearted than what took place. Ruben Fleischer's previous film 'Zombieland' was hilarious and smart as it needed to be, mixing raunchy humor with a gleeful amount of blood and gore for engaging comedic effect. This however, is much more raunchier, meaner, and foul- mouthed than the hit zombie comedy, and though it fails to obtain the level of laughter the former achieved; Fleischer still manages to work for the least. This action comedy plays like a violent live-action cartoon with scenes of car chases, gun threats, and of course, the light-hearted bank robbery that serves as a key point to the plot. And the main duo to the ball-to-the-walls chaos is Jesse Eisenberg and Aziz Anzari who are both somewhat and show a fair amount of comedic chemistry between each other. Trading some vulgar, but hilarious dialogue in nearly every scene of their presence, these two actors show that they have their comedic energy packed inside. Danny McBride and Nick Swardson who step foot into the antagonist roles however, don't have a lot of funny dialogue, and instead treat audiences with rather generic sex jokes that either not funny or just plain distasteful. The former makes his best effort to bring out the laughs by going trigger-happy with one profane slur after another, and the results just fall flat. Then there is a hot-tempered hit-man played by Michael Pena who is not known for many comedic roles, and doesn't wastes his comedic energy here in favor of a more jarring role that comes as rather off-putting than funny. In an essence, he feels criminally miscast. Eisenberg and Anzari are the only ones who manage to keep the film moving and engaging.
30 Minutes or Less may have have some flaws needling through its core, but it is an engaging comedic fare that delivers some good laughs to appeal to an acceptable comedy demographic. In this case, this if high unlikely that this one will go down as a classic in its genre, but still warrants for recommendation.