30 Minutes or Less

30 Minutes or Less

(Ruben Fleischer, 2011)

Rating: 1.5/5

Reviewed by Dave Lancaster

Summary: Silly, offensive and badly structured heist comedy '30 Minutes or Less' makes you wish the title reflects the running time.
 

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At 80 minutes, '30 Minutes or Less' is stretching its material. The film could've been better suited to reflecting its title, but even then there isn't enough juice in Ruben Fleischer's predictable comedy to adequately fill that timeframe either. Maybe that was the target for writing the script.

The plot sees a pizza delivery guy ('The Social Network' Oscar nominee Jesse Eisenberg quickly falling from grace) get a bomb strapped to his chest by two stupid crooks (Danny McBride and Nick Swardson) in an attempt to scam McBride's rich father (a wasted Fred Ward) for his cash.

Instead of calling the cops, Eisenberg strolls over to the nearest school and enlists the help of his teacher friend (Aziz Ansari) who agrees for no apparent reason to help him rob a bank to pay off the dimwitted crooks.

If you thought the male characters were badly drawn, the females get it so much worse that it's offensive. In '30 Minutes or Less' the first girl we see gladly performs oral sex and then is quickly tossed aside not to be seen again. The next is a conniving stripper who gives McBride a lapdance before revealing her plans and the other becomes a damsel in distress after getting kidnapped.

The resulting mix of naff characters and unlikely events makes '30 Minutes or Less' feel rushed, ridiculuous and nearly unwatchable. Not only does it take its audience for granted, it does the same to its pawn-like characters.

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