30 Minutes Or Less

I haven't reviewed many comedies on this blog so far. It is not that I don't enjoy them, it's just that a movie has to give me something good in the trailer to get me to the theater with the high prices of tickets. So how did this flick get me off my ass and into the theater? Well I first saw that cast and thought that it had some awesome potential. Plus I am a HUGE Aziz Ansari so hopefully he would bring his unique style of comedy to the big screen. Then I saw that Ruben Fleischer was directing, the same man who did Zombieland. That was enough for me and I was confident going in that it would be worth the $10 ticket. So was 30 Minutes or Less good? Did I enjoy it? Read on to find out...

30 Minutes Or Less stars Jesse Eisenberg as Nick, a pizza delivery boy who gets a bomb strapped on him by two fugitives (Danny McBride, Nick Swardson) who are trying to score some cash. Nick comes to his friend Chet (Aziz Ansari) to help him rob a bank and hopefully get the bomb off of him. Nick must try to survive the bomb, and learn a little bit on the way to not be selfish anymore.

As I always say, comedies for me are really simple. I will either laugh and enjoy the movie or I won't laugh and think it's terrible. This movie felt like it came right down the middle for me. I didn't hate it but at the same time I didn't like it either. While the film certainly has it's funny parts, the plot was way too complicated and got in the way of the funny parts. At the same time the film's pace was way too fast to either enjoy a funny moment or even understand what the film was trying to do. Unfortunately this film also had a lot of jokes that did not hit. You could tell the film was trying to be funny but in the theater no one was laughing.

As far as the cast goes there were some high points and some low points. Eisenberg and McBride were not that funny and started to get annoying towards the end of the film. But Ansari and Swardson were able to pick up the slack and keep the film from being awful. Ansari definitely has the best lines throughout the whole flick and Swardson's naturally funny demeanor was a great addition to the film. Also watch out for Michael Pena as Chango who was a nice surprise and funny addition to the film.

Overall, this movie is not terrible. There were a lot of times that I was laughing, but not laughing that hard. Basically this movie lands in between Bridesmaids funny and The Hangover Part II funny. So while I was enjoying some parts this is a movie that is easily forgettable and not worth the price of your movie ticket. Wait for this one on Netflix or to come on TV because you won't be laughing as much as you want too.


2.5/5