'30 Minutes Or Less'

'30 Minutes Or Less' (R) (2 STARS)

Writer: Michael Dilberti
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Straaing: Jesse Eisenberg, Aziz Ansari, Danny McBride, Nick Swardson, Michael Pena, Dilshad Vadsaria, Bianca Kajilich, Fred Ward

"30 Minutes Or Less" is not a bad movie but it kind of comes and goes without leaving much of an impression. It is a lazy comedy whose set up is not inspired and it's execution is weak. I like some of the performances even though the movie doesn't require quality perfromances. There are also two actors here who are fine but we have seen them do this kind of role over and over again.

"30 Minutes Or Less" stars Jesse Eisenberg as pizza delivery man Nick who is pretty much a slacker. Nick and his pal Chet hang out together a lot drinking beer and watching movies. One day Nick delivers a pizza to a couple of criminals who want to use Nick. They are trying to steal money so they can hire someone to kill one of their fathers. They strap a bomb to Nick and tell him to rob a bank and then drop off the money. The movie starts in separately giving us background on the criminals and then the two pals.

Some of the dialogue in the beginning has some witty one liners but there is nothing here that screams hilarity. There are a few car chases, the robbery of the bank that has one laugh in it. This could have been a wacky comedy like a warped version of "Dog Day Afternoon". The movie goes through the motions and there are no really funny scenes. I didn't laugh at all really, I just smiled a few times. There is really only the robbery and a lot of forgettable stuff. This is like one of those movies you might watch on cable late at night and then forget it in the morning.

The other problem is with the use of two actors in the movie that are given their same old schtick to do. I probably wouldn't have a problem with the way they are used if the movie was funny. First Jesse Eisenberg is being typcast as a fast talking nerd and I understand it but this movie is not doing Eisenberg any favors in not being typcast. Then there is Danny McBride who plays one of the bad guys. McBride in every movie specializes in using a lot of profane language and insulting everyone. It was funny in his first few movies and his HBO show but here it got on my nerves. It makes McBride look like he he can be only one dimensional and I know he is better than that. I did love Aziz Ansari as Chet and the comedic actor who is very funny on the television show "Parks and Recreation" is the best thing here.

So what you have here is a lackluster comedy that wastes all of it's talent. There is really no good reason I can think of on why this movie had to be made, the story is weak and the screenplay isn't funny. I was also dissapointed because the director Ruben Fleischer's first movie
"Zombieland had energy and a lot of big laughs. This movie drags and doesn't have one big laugh in it. The acting is good but I had another problem. The female characters are all weakly written and the actresses are given one note thankless roles. That is a problem with a lot of movies lately so 30 Minutes is just the same old safe comedy.