There's really no comparing the two films as Zombieland was wildly inventive while 30 Minutes or Less plays like a film written in 30 minutes or less. The jokes miss far more often than they hit, and there's not a single likable character to latch onto. In fact, most of the characters are so annoying that the less time we spend with them the better. Even the brisk 88 minute running time is far too long to spend with this uninteresting lot.
The Story:
The 30 Minutes or Less players are Dwayne (Danny McBride), an idiot living off his daddy's money, a fact that annoys the ex-Marine (Fred Ward) to no end. Travis (Nick Swardson) is Dwayne's slavishly devoted sidekick who hasn't come out to Dwayne that he's gay. Nick (Jesse Eisenberg) is an unambitious pot-smoking slacker who delivers pizza for a living. His friend Chet (Aziz Ansari) is a substitute teacher who actually seems to have his act together and who seems to be Nick's best friend by default as no one else likes the guy. And Kate (Dilshad Vadsaria) is Chet's pretty twin sister whose involvement with Nick makes no sense whatsoever on a variety of levels. And then there's Chango (Michael Pena), a hit man who's offered $100,000 to kill Dwayne's dad.
Blame everything that happens in the film on Chango, because if he didn't ask for $100,000, Dwayne and Travis wouldn't come up with the idea to strap a bomb to a pizza guy and force him to rob a bank. And then Nick wouldn't take his bomb-clad body to Chet's elementary school to convince him to help pull off the hold-up. And then Nick wouldn't have to promise to never see Kate again in order for Chet to agree to possibly winding up in jail or dead as the result of this ridiculous plan. Okay, so actually it's all Dwayne's fault for wanting to kill his father in order to get at the old guy's money (which he won playing the lottery), but Chango's an infinitely more interesting character - and Michael Pena's the best thing about 30 Minutes or Less - so it's more fun to talk about him than anyone else in this mess.
The Acting and the Bottom Line:
Danny McBride does his Danny McBride thing, Nick Swardson plays dumb well, Aziz Ansari is good, and Jesse Eisenberg (terrific in The Social Network and Zombieland) has nothing to do here but toss out the occasional wisecrack. If it weren't for Michael Pena, there would be nothing overly positive to say about any of the performances in 30 Minutes or Less. Pena isn't known for comedic roles, but given this opportunity he makes the absolute most of it despite the lack of decent material to work off of.
It's also unfortunate that the premise parallels a horrific event in which a Pennsylvania pizza delivery man was killed after being strapped with a bomb and forced into robbing a bank. Senior Vice President of Media Relations Steve Elzer issued a statement concerning the similarities which said, "Neither the filmmakers nor the stars of 30 Minutes or Less were aware of this crime prior to their involvement in the film."Elzer added, "The writers were vaguely familiar with what had occurred and wrote an original screenplay that does not mirror the real-life tragedy."
Danny McBride and Nick Swardson in '30 Minutes or Less'
© Columbia PicturesObviously 30 Minutes or Less isn't an exact representation of the true-life tragedy. What 30 Minutes or Less is is an R-rated comedy, and the bomb, the bank robbery, the car chases, and the shootings are all played for laughs. Too bad those expected laughs just don't come very often, if at all, in 30 Minutes or Less.
GRADE: C-
30 Minutes or Less was directed by Ruben Fleischer and is rated R for crude and sexual content, pervasive language, nudity and some violence.
Theatrical Release: August 12, 2011
