30 Minutes or Less Review

One of the selling points of 30 Minutes or Less is that it feels like it runs for, well, 30 minutes or less (the actual running time is closer to 83 minutes, with credits). And that's not meant to be facetious. Rather, the film plays like a call-out to the snappy, fast-talking comedies of old that would rush breathlessly to a from-out-of-nowhere abrupt ending. As they say, they don't make them like this anymore.

The movie reteams Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer with that film's Jesse Eisenberg, who stars as another of his patented schlubby characters, albeit one who isn't unlikable like Eisenberg's version of Mark Zuckerberg, or socially inept like Zombieland's survivor-geek Columbus. Rather, his character Nick is just a guy who hasn't quite figured out how to make his life work, even while those around him are moving onwards and upwards. Like, getting real jobs and s#!t!

Trapped in a dead-end gig as a pizza-delivery guy (hence the title of the film -- he'll get you your order in the prescribed time or else it's on him) and still pining for Kate (Dilshad Vadsaria), the girl he screwed things up with all the way back in high school, Nick is stuck in limbo. And then he goes out on a call one night, is attacked and knocked out, and wakes up with a bomb strapped and locked to his chest. Moving onwards and upwards, as it were.

Watch IGN's interview with the cast of 30 Minutes or Less.

His assailants -- who appear to be idiots in monkey masks as far as he can tell -- are actually Dwayne and Travis, played by Danny McBride and Nick Swardson. They're two dumbbells who pass their time blowing up watermelons and watching Friday the 13th: Part 3D on Dwayne's rich dad's big projection screen -- you know, higher-education types.

These two jerks come up with a scheme to have Dwayne's dad killed so that they can inherit his money (with which they plan to open a tanning salon/whorehouse -- their town is somehow lacking such an operation). But in order to pay for the hit, they need cash. So they kidnap Eisenberg's character, bomb him up, and tell him he has to go rob a bank or else they'll blow him to hell.

Nick naturally heads straight to his best friend, Chet (Aziz Ansari), for help. Chet, Kate's brother, is a teacher, and is somewhat disturbed by the fact that Nick has walked into his school with a bomb strapped to him. He's also none too happy with Nick regarding recent revelations about his sister ("You deflowered my sister, and I know all the f#@king details?!"), but still he decides to help out his buddy in that distinctly deadpan Ansari way.

What follows is a double buddy dynamic, with Chet and Nick's misadventures paralleling Dwayne and Travis' misdeeds. The former work at first to get rid of the bomb and then eventually just say "screw it" and go rob the bank in one of the film's highlight sequences. (The pair bases their entire bank-robbing plan on the many action movies they've seen.) And while intuitively you wouldn't think that casting an Oscar nominee alongside a TV comedian would work, the combination of the is-he-still-breathing Eisenberg with the manic Ansari creates a great, smart comedic team. Their pairing elevates the movie above blowjob jokes and the such (though those are here too).


McBride and Swardson, on the other hand, surprisingly have to work harder for the laughs. Perhaps it's because their characters aren't given as clear a directive as their counterparts -- Dwayne and Travis basically spend a bulk of the movie following the good guys around in a car. But still, this is McBride we're talking about here, and he makes sure to do things like, say, simu-hump Jason Voorhees. Words don't do it justice.

Perhaps the film is lacking in the visual flair that Fleischer brought to Zombieland. Yes, there are some cleverly designed sequences here, including a fairly ridiculous car chase, but 30 Minutes or Less ultimately feels like the director is holding back some so as to let his actors do their thing.

Fred Ward (as Dwayne's hard-ass dad) and Michael Pena (as the not-so hard-ass hitman) also play a role in the hectic proceedings. They're funny, though ultimately they don't really get a ton to do. (Again, 83 minutes with credits.) One supposes that's the price you pay for that classic abrupt ending. It's worth it.

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