SnakesOnAnAfricanPlain

(2012-05-02 00:46:26)

Enjoyable, but not as a comedy.

30 Minutes or Less takes a rather dark and yet funny premise, but thenplays it more like an action movie. Eisenberg is strapped with a bomband is told to rob a bank. What's quite peculiar about this film isthat it focuses so much on the Danny McBride character. It seems asthough they are trying to put some development around him, but there isnothing to like about him. He's lazy, crude, stupid, and dangerous.Aziz Ansari is just difficult to watch. He has no comic timing, and canonly express his lines in one tone of voice. The heist itself is agreat watch, and I loved how the pacing kept the movie going. It wasn'tjust a large number of failed robberies. The movie kept on movingtowards the finale. I don't think I had a genuine laugh here, but I wasnever bored and the short running time worked in its favour. Despitethe enjoyment factor, I never once believed the bomb was close to goingoff, removing any tension.

Neil Welch

(2012-05-01 18:54:04)

Entertaining, but not actually funny

Nick (Jesse Eisenberg) is a pizza delivery chap who falls out with hisbest friend Chet (Aziz Ansari). Dwayne (Danny McBride) is thenot-very-bright son of unpleasant redneck millionaire The Major (FredWard). Together with his even-less-bright friend Travis (NickSwardson), he hatches a plan to hire a hit-man to kill The Major andthus inherit his money. This will cost more money than he has.Solution: rob a bank. But to avoid taking the risk of doing thatthemselves they decide to find an innocent patsy and kit him out with abomb jacket to force him to steal the money. But where can they findsuch a patsy...This short (83 minutes) movie is sold in its trailer as a comedy. Itisn't - it is a suspense drama with comedic elements: similar, I guess,to Fargo, although noticeably less well executed. Having said that, itkept me entertained all the way through.Eisenberg convinces as the young man who believes that his life maycome to an end at any second. And McBride also convinces as the deeplyunpleasant Dwayne (a character I was considerably happier with than thealso deeply unpleasant Thadeous he played in Your Highness earlier thisyear). In fact, with the exception of Chet (somewhat overplayed intohysterical screaminess by Ansari), all the characters did what theywere supposed to from a dramatic viewpoint. The movie even has a weirdkind of believability to it.What it doesn't have is laughs. Or, to be more accurate, not many, andthose which it does have are all in the trailer. This doesn't make it abad film - it rattles along fairly swiftly and remains entertainingthroughout, but it certainly doesn't make it a comedy either.

manumaan

(2012-05-01 05:46:46)

Disappointed..

Most misleading movie title ever. It was longer than 2 hrs. Caught thismovie at a screening today.From the time i saw the first trailer, i hadhigh hopes for this movie. Turns out, most of the jokes are already inthe trailer.Reason i went for this screening: I am a big fan ofZombieland. Movie takes too long to setup the characters and premise.Coming from the director of Zombieland, this movie is abouthalf-engaging as Zombieland.Aziz Ansari gets the best lines. Jesse doeshis stammering- with-heart-of-gold again. Danny Mcbride is funny for ashort-while, then goes to be creepy. Michael Pena again plays aHispanic thug. The movie is not probably as bad as i make it to be, butif i didn't enjoy it after seeing it for free...

cyoungblood1228

(2012-04-30 18:22:39)

30 Minutes or Less

Ruben Fleischer made a name for himself with Zombieland, and funny andstylish take on the zombie apocalypse. With his newest effort Fleischerbrings back his leading man from Zobieland Jessie Eisengberg to playNick a deadbeat pizza delivery guy who gets a bomb strapped to hischest while delivering a pizza and is forced to rob a bank by criminal"masterminds" Dwayne and Travis played by Danny McBride and NickSwardson. They do this in order to get the money to pay a hit-manplayed by Micheal Pena to kill Dwayne's father played by Fred Ward whorecently acquired a large sum of money by way of the lottery. The ideais by killing his father Dwayne will then inherit his father's lotterywinnings allowing him to open a tanning salon/brothel. Aziz Ansari'scharacter plays Nicks best friend Chet who tags along for the ride andhelps Nick rob the bank. Let me start off by saying it is hard toappreciate this movie if you do not have the right sense of humor. Ifyou enjoy other works of Nick Swardson, Danny McBride or Aziz Ansarithen you will enjoy this film All of the actors feel perfect for theirrolls in the movie and therefore the experience feels all the morereal. The comedy in this movie is very dark but that does not mean itis not enjoyable. There are many memorable lines from the movie, linesthat will have you laughing again and again. Fleischer does a very goodjob of making the experience feel very real which forces you to putyourself in Nick's shoes because his situation is without a doubtshitty one. This proves to be very effective. You will find yourselflaughing the whole movie but at the same time on the edge of your seatin awe of what is unfolding. One of the more notable performances inthe movie is that of Micheal Pena. He brings an amazing originality tohis role. Never before have i laughed so hard and every line one personhas said in the movie. Props to him on his funny and originalperformance as the role of the gangster hit-man usually falls to amundane forgettable actor but Pena really took it and made it somethingspecial. Despite a few plot holes and a very short running time 30Minutes or less is a great movie and another great effort by Mr.Fleischer. 9/10

emprsiris

(2012-04-30 02:34:38)

sick, that's what this 'movie' is

Believe it or not, this is based on a real event that happened in Erie, PA in 2003. Two criminals wanted to raise enough money to hire a hit-man to kill the father of one of the criminals in the hope to gain the insurance money. They conned a pizza delivery man, Brian Douglas Wells, into their plot to rob a bank. They told him the bomb they were strapping around his neck would be a dummy. However, when the date came & the 2 criminals had strapped the bomb to his neck, it was real. Wells was given a shotgun & a list of tasks. He was told that if he did not complete a task in time that the bomb would go off, but the 2 criminals never intended to let him go and kill him after he completed his tasks. When Wells tried to rob a bank, the police were called. Wells told the police that a bomb was strapped to his neck and that he was ordered to rob a bank or the bomb would go off. Even though the police tried to disarm the bomb, they could not & Wells' time ran out. The bomb exploded, blasting a fist-sized hole in Wells' chest.I can not even comprehend what those last moments were like for Brian Wells, as he was forced at gunpoint to have a live bomb strapped around his neck, but I'm sure it was not comedy. I'm sure it was completely and utterly terrifying. This plot has led to stories for crime dramas, and that is fine, but not the plot for a action comedy. That is just sick.Save yourself money if you want the whole story, you can find it on Wiki. Just look up "Brian Douglas Wells."

Movie_Muse_Reviews

(2012-04-29 13:06:15)

Super quick runtime accounts for laughs, but not great storytelling

Director Ruben Fleischer should call the "making of" documentary ofthis film "86 Minutes or Less." The filmmaker who landed squarely onthe Hollywood directing hot list with 2009's rollicking sleeper hit"Zombieland" has crammed the action and laughs into another unusuallyshort runtime. Distinct advantages exist to the "all business" attitudetoward filmmaking, but "30 Minutes or Less" reveals the criticality ofgood writing in making something like this work. The narrative of"Zombieland" is much tighter, but "30 Minutes or Less" still packs thelaughs into a sufficient summer action comedy."Zombieland" star Jesse Eisenberg helps out Fleischer again as Nick, asimilar loser in the form of a pizza delivery guy, only Nick is muchcruder and gutsier. The neurotic hopeless romantic that theOscar-nominated actor perfected prior to said Oscar nod only rears itshead in the freak-out moments resulting from having a bomb strapped tohis chest by a pair of monkey-masked amateur criminals who've given himnine hours to rob a bank.Although we know that synopsis coming in, the film spends at least 20minutes attempting to properly set it up. We meet Nick, adisappointment by all accounts, and his longtime friend Chet (AzizAnsari), a school teacher. Somehow they provoke each other to the pointwhere Nick reveals he once slept with Chet's twin sister Kate (DilshadVadsaria) in high school (that he's still secretly in love with) andChet lashes back with the secret that he pushed the first domino inwhat resulted in Nick's parents' divorce. Needless to say, the two endup on bad terms before Nick comes to him the next day desperate for hishelp in solving his time- sensitive predicament.Meanwhile, Dwayne (Danny McBride) and Travis (Nick Swardson) get anunusual amount of back story for your typical dumb criminals. The twogood-for-nothings decide to take action when Dwayne's lottery-winningex-marine father provokes them by calling them out on their lack oflife direction. Dwayne convinces Travis, a weapons and explosivesexpert, to help him plot a way to kill his dad and get his inheritanceso they can open up a tanning salon that will front for a prostitutionring. They decide to hire a hit-man (Michael PeГѓВ±a) whom they must pay$100,000 and ultimately determine the smartest way to do that is toforce someone to rob a bank for them. These scenes give thosecharacters too much needless motivation, but the extra screen timeprovides McBride and Swardson lots more opportunities to make us laugh.For a film that should feel suspenseful if for nothing else but theimplications of the title "30 Minutes or Less," this juggling ofsubplots dampens the pace. Humor does flow constantly throughout,however, and Eisenberg's desperation to make this all seem very realand frightening in tandem with Ansari's gift for not being tooself-serious work in the film's favor. If only the camera didn't dartaway from them as often as it does and kill whatever momentum theybuilt.Broken down into categories, "30 Minutes or Less" gets good marks forcomedy, but sub-par marks for action because the writing doesn't fuelthe action like it should. Fleischer has not lost any touch in what'salways a challenging sophomore effort; he simply doesn't get as good ofstuff to work with this time around. Fortunately, the four maintalented comedians offer up enough to make this one a worthwhile 86minutes or so.~Steven CVisit my site at http://moviemusereviews.com

Steven

(2012-04-28 14:38:24)

Enjoyable, funny, but flawed

30 Minutes or Less, is a fun and enjoyable action comedy from directorRuben Fleischer. This is Fleischer's second film after the 2009surprise hit Zombieland. His new film 30 Minutes is funny andentertaining, but has its flaws.Fleischer brings back his Zombieland leading man Jesse Eisenberg tostar as Nick, a pizza boy who is a slacker at his job even though he isa fast enough driver. All he does is deliver pizzas, drink beer, andhang out with his best friend Chet, played by Aziz Ansari. He seems tobe content with the fact that his life is going nowhere. Chet is anelementary school teacher who is not a fan of his job.We are then introduced to Dwayne and Travis, played by Danny McBrideand Nick Swardson, who are even bigger slackers. Dwayne gets pushedaround by his dad about the fact that he doesn't have a job and moochesoff of him. Travis is pretty much Dwayne's punching bag and just doeswhat Dwayne tells him.Dwayne has dreams of owning a business and he decides that he wantsTravis in on it. The idea they get is to have some poor schmuck rob abank for them to get the money they want to start their business. Theyget their thought of who when they see a pizza commercial. Once Nick isat their place he is trapped and wakes up with a bomb strapped to hischest. Now Nick has ten hours to rob a bank or else he explodes.The humor comes from the situations that Nick and Chet go through andhow they deliver their lines. However, this film does have its flaws.One of them is that at times, the screenplay feels rushed and thatFleischer's direction feels a bit too rapid fire. Fleischer proves thathe has strong and weak points as a director, but he shows here that hisdirecting still needs work.The acting is pretty good. Eisenberg shows that he is a good, youngleading actor. Danny McBride stands out as the tough guy Dwayne, makinghim a likable and hilarious criminal. Ansari's strong point was playingoff of what Eisenberg says. Swardson is not given a whole lot to do andis really just there just to be there.Overall, it is worth checking out and has its moments.

Vaughn Fry

(2012-04-28 04:32:34)

Delivers

Nick (Jesse Eisenberg) is a down on his luck pizza delivery boy, whohas been spinning his wheels since high school both physically andmetaphorically. Wheeling about his in vintage early '90s 5.0 Mustang,Nick has to deliver pizza in guess what—30 minutes or less. Failure tocomplete delivery in time and the pie is on Nick.On the other side of the rut, Dwayne (Danny McBride) and pal Travis(Nick Swardson) are piecing together a plan to knock-off Dwayne'sfather (Fred Ward) and collect the remainder of his lottery winnings.The plan: hire a hit-man (Michael Pena) for $100,000. We've heard thisbefore this summer, but Dwayne and Nick go a step further. They orderup a pizza, kidnap Nick and with a bomb vest force him to rob a bank tobe able to pay for the hired gun. A convoluted scheme indeed.Bomb armed, Nick seeks help from his BFF Chet (Aziz Ansari). Togetherthey plot to rob the bank and in doing so form the protagonist duo. Onpaper, their quips may not scream Oscar consideration, but theirchemistry and execution are second to none. So, if that statement istrue then none would be McBride and Swardson who take up an equal stakein total run time and quality moments.30 Minutes or Less does not mess around. With a lightning fast pace,director Reuben Fleischer (Zombieland) sets up the dueling pairs andputs the plot into action. Amazingly, these pieces don't simply fallinto place; they are hurled. The timed bomb plot device works yetagain, because once underway 30 Minutes or Less doesn't let up. Cuttingback and forth from the equally inept pairings, there is never a sensethat one is missing out on the fun.Sure, $100k is a lot for a non-political hit, but these oversights arepart of the fun, giving you an idea to the intelligence of the criminalmasterminds. McBride also points out a plot convenience, and Eisenbergdisses on Facebook. The self-aware nature of these and other jokes help30 Minutes or Less ascend to regions more evolved than the targetdemo—the stoner crowd—is accustom. Still, the dialog is laced with asmuch cursing as anything out there, a basic cable censorship nightmare.30 Minutes or Less isn't exactly treading new ground, but it deliversthe laughs. Should you catch it, be sure to sit through the credits asthere is an extensive scene that ties up the plot.

njwunrow

(2012-04-28 21:12:52)

Not even worth a free screening pass

The first 30 minutes are upbeat and the comic relief is par. Once theplot begins, McBride's relentless babbling just wears on the senses,dragging everything else good about this film. This movie could havebeen much funnier if McBride's character wasn't so annoying. If itwasn't for Jesse and Aziz this movie would have been a complete flop.About half way through the pre-screening some of the audience memberswalked out, I wish I would have as well. I thought the soundtrack wasprobably the best part of the film. Overall disappointing coming fromFleischer, the director of Zombieland. I would like to see more fromFleischer, just keep McBride at home next time.

greg65301

(2012-04-28 03:37:41)

What?

All I want to say is, why does this garbage pass for humor. My personalopinion. It seems that all of the "comedy" movies anymore only draw oncontrived, simplistic, slapstick that you can see coming from SarahPalin's back yard as viewed from Russia. Is it that I don't understandwhat humor is? Or maybe it is beyond the realm of feasibility toactually write something funny and the zombie apocalypse has alreadyhappened. How do you make a zombie laugh? By showing movies based ondead ideas apparently. 33 minutes was all I could take. Do I get mylife back because it took more than 30 minutes for me to finally bailon this movie?

Mack

(2012-04-26 22:10:31)

So funny, great cast, great humor

This is the funniest movie of the summer! It is great on so manylevels. So lets break it down: 1. The cast - Jesse Eisenburg, AzizAnsari, Danny McBride, and Nick Swardson. This is an all star cast fora comedy film! Eisenburg has really come into his own since The SocialNetwork. Aziz Ansari is great too, he is so funny in this. He warpsevery scene he's in. Danny McBride and Nick Swardson are pretty muchthe same. They both play really good douchebags. That's it. 2. Thestory - Jesse Eisenburg plays Nick, a slacker and pizza delivery boywho doesn't care what he does with his life. Aziz however is Nick'sbest friend, Chet and is more responsible. He is a substitute teacherfull time and worries about Nick. Danny McBride plays Dwayne who is aretard with no common sense. He hates his father, The Major (played bythe brilliant Fred Ward) and plans to hire someone to murder him so hecan inherit the rest of his dad's 10 million dollar lotto win. Alongwith his best friend Travis, they kidnap Nick, strap a bomb on him andforce him to rob a bank so they can pay a hit man to kill the Major.I'm not even gonna talk about Michael Pena's role, I hated it so much.Everything goes down on this one day with Nick righting his wrongs inlife and robbing the bank with Chet. 3. Humor - The humor of this filmwas extremely raunchy, like most films now a days. Lots of sexualreferences and F-bombs going down. It does get tiring after a while butI give this film a 10 anyway.So this film was great! Screw the critics, they don't understand goodcomedies today! Form your own opinion on films and don't listen tothem. Watch this film!!!

jesper-929-125440

(2012-04-26 11:00:48)

It is very rare that i take the time to write a review

But i simply had to in the case of this movie. Let med start out bysaying that i really like Jesse Eisenberg. I think he is an interestingactor with much potential.But by god this is a horrible movie. The story does imply that youcould be disappointed. But i have seldom seen a director f*** somethingup so much as this. It is like someone tried to make a decent meal butused 7 different recipes and got everything backwards and forgot 3-4ingredients combined with a bad egg or two :) Zombieland was a greatpiece of work - but this one should be deleted from his resume.As you can guess from this i was disappointed despite that i had noexpectations.Spare your self from watching this movie, unless it is pure charitywork on your behalf.

Claudio Carvalho

(2012-04-20 05:29:19)

Lost Between Comedy and Action Genres

The dumb and sex obsessed Dwayne (Danny McBride) intends to open amassage parlor with his partner Travis (Nick Swardson), but he does nothave money for the investment. He decides to hire a hit-man to kill hisfather, The Major (Fred Ward), who won a large amount of money in thelottery years ago, but the killer demands US$ 100,000.00 for the job.Dwayne and Travis kidnap the pizza delivery boy Nick (Jesse Eisenberg)and they dress Nick with a vest with a timer and several bombs. ThenDwayne tells Nick that he has ten hours to rob US$ 100,000.00 from abank and he would give the code to release the vest. Nick summons hisbest friend Chet (Aziz Ansari) to help him in the heist but the schemedoes not work the way Dwayne has plotted. "30 Minutes of Less" is a feature lost between comedy and actiongenres: it is not funny as a comedy and it is silly as an action film.The good cast is wasted in a poor screenplay and direction. In the endof the credits, Dwayne finally opens the business of his own. My voteis four.Title (Brazil): "30 Minutos ou Menos" ("30 Minutes or Less")

brucev13

(2012-04-19 18:32:33)

Nope

In 30 minutes or less you will know what direction this movie is going.I really tried very hard to like it. But the little real humour thatwas to be found here was not enough for to convince me to like. Firstof all I can't believe that Ruben Fleischer who directed the brilliantZombieland is also responsible for this title.They story doesn'tflow,the characters are not that bad but far from likable. And theaction is average although the intro scene with the main characterEisenberg racing does promise a lot. Aziz Ansari is almost the only onewho is able to provide some laughs. Only don't expect too much of itbecause the jokes are very obvious.Don't waste your time with this one.

Tony Heck

(2012-04-08 17:17:15)

A very very funny comedy that doesn't try to be what it's not. Funny all the way through. Watch & laugh. I say A-

"Chet, if I don't get to the money in time this thing's gonna blow."Dwayne (McBride) and Nick (Eisenberg) have different lives but theyboth feel the same way about them. Dwayne is sitting around waiting forhis dad to die so he can get the inheritance money. When a strippertells him she can find a guy to kill him, his life changes. Rather thengetting his hands dirty he forces pizza delivery driver Nick to do itfor him, by putting a bomb on his chest. Contrary to what the plot ofthe film is, this is very, very funny. The combination of two cluelesspeople forcing two clueless kids to rob a bank is hilarious and veryfun to watch. Eisenberg is back in "Zombieland" form, and McBride isthe funniest he has ever been. The supporting cast adds a lot to themovie, and there really isn't a dull moment in this movie. Mostcomedies lately try to add to much heart (where it doesn't need it) andit takes away from the laughs. This one plays more like a "Seinfeld"type, where everyone is mean and rude to everyone else, and that iswhat makes it so much fun. It doesn't try to be something it's not.Overall, the rare type of recent comedy that makes you laugh all theway through. I give it an A-.*Also try - Your Highness & Zombieland

Hellmant

(2012-04-08 00:46:43)

Michael Cera should now be known as the poor man's Jesse Eisenberg!

'30 MINUTES OR LESS': Four Stars (Out of Five) I guess Jesse Eisenberg is a full-fledged movie star now; headlininghis first action/comedy film to an opening weekend more impressivefinancially than most Michael Cera vehicles (and Eisenberg is no longerplaying a Michael Cera type role)! Cera should now be known as the poorman's Jesse Eisenberg and it's great to see Jesse branching out as well(he's not the goofy nerd in this, he's kind of a laid back punk). He'sgot great support as well in the form of other up and coming comicactors like Danny McBride, Aziz Ansari and Nick Swardson. It's directedby former Eisenberg collaborator Ruben Fleischer (who also directedJesse in 'ZOMBIELAND') and written by first time film writers MichaelDiliberti and Matthew Sullivan. It's definitely a great team and theresult is just as impressive. Eisenberg and friends bring their A gameand the movie works because of it.The film is a buddy movie through and through and it tells the story oftwo groups of friends; one is our heroes, Nick (Eisenberg) and Chet(Ansari), and the other is the film's antagonists, Dwayne (McBride) andTravis (Swardson). Nick is a slacker pizza delivery driver who'ssecretly been seeing his best friend's sister, Kate (Dilshad Vadsaria),for years. Dwayne is a huge underachiever as well who's constantlybeing put down by his overbearing father (Fred Ward). When a strippergives him the idea of murdering his father to inherit a million dollarsfrom him Dwayne enlists the help of his buddy Travis. The two come upwith the mad idea of strapping a bomb to a pizza delivery guy andforcing him to rob a bank of a hundred thousand dollars in order to payfor a hit on Dwayne's father (they hire the stripper's hit-man lover topull off that job). Nick of course becomes their tormented victim.The film's plot has been criticized for it's resemblance to a real lifetragedy (in which a pizza delivery guy was actually strapped with abomb and forced into robbing a bank) but the writers and otherfilmmakers responsible for the film say they had only 'vaguely' heardof the real news story. Having seen the movie I highly doubt anyresemblance to the actual events was intended. The movie is just a funaction flick. Esenberg is great in the lead but it's McBride thatreally steals the show (he's hilarious). Swardson and Ansari are bothfunny as well. The cast is pretty much perfect actually. Fleischer'sdirecting is fitting to the material and the pacing is perfect as well(I think I actually enjoyed the movie more than 'ZOMBIELAND'). Thescript is witty and full of memorable laughs also. If you're lookingfor just a fun and hilarious 83 minute flick to pass the time with thisis the movie for you.Watch our review show 'MOVIE TALK' at:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_gpux8_tZ4

jongoff

(2012-03-31 12:50:33)

Not comedy, but disgusting

For those of us with more than ten minute attention spans, the horrificevents of a terrified man with a bomb strapped around his neck, whichthe police were unable to diffuse before it exploded, isn't fodder formovie comedy.This happened. It was real. His name was Doug Wells. And in the end, itblew his head off. It's an image I'll take to my grave. To make a movieabout it as a comedy is disgusting. If this movie is successful, let's make a comedy about assassinatingJFK. It will be a laugh out loud show the whole family can enjoy,followed by the sequel. Got MLK? I Did!Let's make a comedy about a nut-job shooting a US Senator. This kind ofexcrement is protected under the First Amendment, but just because it'sprotected speech, I don't have to give my hard earned money asapproval. My advice, you shouldn't either.

TheUnknown837-1

(2012-03-31 07:54:48)

A movie with very little respect for humankind in general, but isn't that very much the same with many of us audience members?

"30 Minutes or Less" is a movie that does not hold most, if not all, ofthe human race with high regard or, for that matter, with very muchrespect. But how ironic, for isn't that very much the same with many ofus audience members? Evidently with the Hollywood executives andagents, for a great many movies of recent years have been about thecynicism and follies of humanity - that's including some sillycomedies. "30 Minutes or Less" is one of those satirizing comedies; itcaught me completely off-guard because I walked into the auditoriumknowing next to nothing about it. All I knew was that it starred JesseEisenberg, that wonderful actor from last year's "The Social Network"and it centered upon him as a pizza delivery boy with a bomb strappedto his chest. That's in the movie, too. The bomb was strapped there bya couple of garbage-mouthed lowlifes (Danny McBride & Nick Swardon).What I didn't know was that it was that they strapped it to his chestbecause they want him to rob a bank, so they can hire a hit-man to bumpoff Mr. McBride's egomaniacal ex-Marine father, played with a lot ofenergy by Fred Ward.Now it's easy to tell it's a comedy."30 Minutes or Less" is not a sidesplitting, laugh-out-loud comedy. Ionly found myself splitting my gut a couple of times as I watched it.Most of the time I was just grinning with some amusement. But I amstill recommending the movie for two reasons. One, because it held myattention effectively for the better part of an hour and a half,because I was grinning for a very good reason. Because of the wit andenergy that director Ruban Fleischer and his screenwriter, MichaelDilberti were using to satirize just about everything in contemporaryAmerican culture. They attack it all. Underage drinking, lack ofrespect towards abstinence, high-mindedness in the younger generation,even elements of consumerism such as Netflix (as when Aziz Ansari, asMr. Eisenberg's roommate, gripes that he's paid twelve dollars forthree movies that he has not watched in an entire month). Anotherelement it picks at is a typical human characteristic: the desire toblame somebody else, which comes into the most effective play duringthe bank robbery that the plot revolves around.It is sort of a sick joke with a lot of below-the-belt humor and fartoo many utterances of the F-word that it needs, but the satiricalelements of the gags allow them to get by, even if just bit a littlebit. As I was watching it, I kept on the look out for what thefilmmakers were pointing fingers at and applying it to scenarios in myown life, whether it had to do with me personally or somebody I know orjust happened to be acquainted with. It happens to all of us, even thebest of us. And the movie keeps on playing with them, up until itsabrupt, stop of an ending, which makes me wonder if perhaps there wasan alternative shot but left on the cutting room floor. It neededsomething more at the end.It also works because of the sheer talent of its cast. Mr. Eisenbergshells out another wonderful performance, speaking rapidly yetfluently, with that same quirky, high-on-himself manner that earned himan Academy Award nomination last year. Nowhere does it say that aprotagonist has to be affable. Mr. Ansari, a fairly new face to thecinema, is effective as well and it is refreshing to see a minorityactor in a comedy where others get laughed at as much as he. As the twolowlifes, Mr. McBride and Mr. Swardson are also in good form, and themovie does a good job at not making us identify with them. That hasbecome a disturbing trend with other pictures. I wish she were in themovie more, but there's also a wonderful actress named Dilshad Valsariaas Mr. Eisenberg's girlfriend (and Mr. Ansari's twin sister). I lookforward to seeing her in other pictures. Supporting roles are playedwell by Mr. Ward, Michael Pena, and Brett Gelman."30 Minutes or Less" is uneven and not all of the gags work. It couldhave also been better-directed (containing too many long andtwo-shots), but enough of its hits earn it a pass as far as I amconcerned. It's nothing new to satirize what has become Americanculture, but it has been handled well here. Not memorable, butfascinating enough to hold attention while it's in motion.

Rockwell_Fassbender

(2012-03-23 07:12:07)

A lot of fun, people are taking it too seriously.

A mixed bag, but most of it ended up on the positive side for me. Thecharacters are all pretty shallow and there are a lot of small thingsthat made me roll my eyes but the plot is so wild that me thinking,"Oh, a person would never react that way." didn't stick in my head formore than a few seconds because it's just not the kind of movie wheresomething like that matters at all.Besides, at 80 minutes it's not like there's time to dwell on thecharacters much, which is a nice thing because it all feels slimmeddown and plot-driven instead of having a bunch of tossed in dumbmoments where the actors improv for no reason for five straightminutes. Along with that, having such a short running time the littleunnecessary slips into dramatic territory only exist for a coupleseconds so there's no time to really be bothered by it. It doesn't havethe kind of wild adrenaline that Zombieland had, but it's stillexciting and I can easily say that I wasn't bored for a second, whichis rare these days.The cast went back and forth for me, Aziz Ansari pretty much made theentire film, he had me cracking up whenever he was on screen and mybiggest laughs came from him just being Aziz basically. The wholecomedic cast just played into their wheelhouses essentially, whichworks for some of them and doesn't for some others. Michael Pena giveswhat is probably the most annoying performance I've seen all year, Ireally wish people would stop giving him work. I like Jesse Eisenberg,but there was some stuff with him that just didn't work for me at allhere. He's great at the awkward comedy, but he's so unconvincingwhenever he tries to be abrasive or vulgar in any way. The former worksfor the character but the latter definitely didn't and it came out asreally forced and uncomfortable.There were some individual lines that I was stunned actually got into afilm with this caliber of people involved just by how stupid they were,but for the most part I found myself in a constant state of enjoymentand the bank robbery scene is one of the funniest of the year for sure.Also ended on a really big laugh, which is always a plus to leave mesmiling.

Christian_Dimartino

(2012-03-22 12:07:54)

It has a few moments, but not enough.

To me, a good comedy is when a movie can make me laugh the entire waythrough. Take Bridesmaids for example. An okay comedy is when a moviehas hit or miss moments. Then there's a bad comedy, where nothing isfunny the whole way through. Take the Danny McBride comedy YourHighness for example.30 minutes or less, the second film from director RubenFleisher(Zombieland) has a few moments, but not enough to maintain sucha short length. It's an action comedy with some action and not a wholelot of comedy.Jessie Eisenberg plays Nick, a pizza delivery guy who is unfortunatelypicked by a couple of morons(Danny McBride and Nick Swardson) to rob abank for them, and if he doesn't then they will blow him up(they'vestrapped a bomb to his chest.So Nick has no other choice other than to run to his old friendChet(Aziz Ansari), a school teacher(doesn't seem right, does it?) toassist him, and they sort of patch together their friendship along theway.The characters in this film are bad people. I don't know who really toroot for. There is a moment where Nick and Chet are talking and theysay that they are a perfect match because they are terrible people.Also, I just can't find any talent in Dannny McBride. McBride wrotethis year's Your highness, which, I will say, was absolutely dreadful.Eisenberg and Ansari are likable, but bad people. And the same goes forSwardson.Overall, it's The Dark Knight when it's compared to something like YourHighness, but it's The Love Guru when it's compared to Bridesmaids. Isay skip it, but if you're really bored, give it a go. It does a goodjob of taking time. And I didn't mean to throw that pun in there.C+