30 Minutes or Less is one messed up movie full of characters that are idiotic with each having a little jackass in their blood. Maybe that is why it is funny, dirty, and rude all at the same time. Director Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland) turns this life-or-death situation into something amusing, dark, and includes some impressive action sequences. He keeps the movie short and on a fast pace. 30 Minutes or Less doesn’t play nice and none of the characters have any redeeming qualities about them, but somehow you learn to appreciate it by the time it’s over.
Jesse Eisenberg reteams with Fleischer and plays a small town Michigan pizza delivery boy named Nick. He smokes pot and doesn’t do much of anything else. His best friend Chet (Aziz Ansari) is a substitute teacher who acts more like an adult, but that isn’t saying much. After telling some secrets from their past about each other, their friendship comes to an abrupt end.
Then there is Dwayne (Danny McBride) and Travis (Nick Swardson) who are about as clueless and dumb as you can get. Dwayne comes up with this master plan to hire a hitman (Michael Pena) to kill his crazy, ex-Marine father (Fred Ward) and inherit all of his money. Before that plan can be put into action, he needs $100,000 to pay the hitman. So Dwayne comes up with another great idea: kidnap a pizza guy and strap a bomb to his chest, and force him to rob a bank. Nick becomes the lucky contestant and is on borrowed time. He has to go crawling back to his former friend to seek forgiveness and ask him to help rob a bank, and hopefully not blow up in the process.
30 Minutes or Less has a terrifying premise, and the fact that this really happened to a pizza guy in Pennsylvania back in 2003 makes it even worse. But Fleischer takes all of the craziness and turns it into something that we may be scared of actually happening, but not afraid to laugh about it. And what do you expect when you get a cast that includes McBride, Swardson, and Ansari? Eisenberg is the only one you can take seriously and his character is the exact opposite of Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network. They all have some funny scenes and one-liners that will make you at least smile. The team of Swardson and McBride is so ridiculous, filthy, and absolutely perfect.
While the movie is funny, it never becomes hilarious. And while the cast is good, fans of these guys will expect more from them. When it comes right down to it, if you don’t like the people in this, then do not go see it. They make the movie what it is and even some who enjoy these actor’s work may be a little disappointed or left with the feeling of wanting more.
30 Minutes or Less is nothing like Zombieland, and Fleischer certainly went a different route this time around. But the truth is this movie isn’t as well-crafted or as much fun as Zombieland is. I’m not quite sure if it’s because the movie is so short or what, but it comes off as just your basic, standard action-comedy by the end. This movie had so much going for it and it delivers, but barely on time.
Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
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