30 Minutes or Less (2011)

 Two small-town criminals planning a big-time bank heist wind up abducting pizza delivery driver Nick (Jesse Eisenberg) and forcing him to commit the robbery -- giving him a strict time limit to boot. To pull off the caper, Nick enlists the aid of a former buddy (Aziz Ansari). With the law, the crooks and the clock all breathing down their necks, the duo also try to patch up their troubled friendship in this frenetic action comedy.

The summer season has officially ended and it was filled with a ton of R-Rated comedy that were mostly well received and popular at the box office. It’s a trend that the first Hangover seemed to jumpstart and the movies are better for it. They tend to be fun enjoyable hilarious movies when you’re free to do whatever you want. Despite this high wave of momentum, 30 Minutes or Less just falls completely flat turning otherwise funny actors into boring and unlikeable cardboard cutouts. It’s a very disappointing end to an otherwise fun filled summer.  

The best thing I can say about the film is its short. Despite it being short though, it still felt dragged on a bit in many parts. A lot of scenarios that could have been funny just felt boring to watch because nothing is really happening. Sure there is a bomb strapped on to one characters chest, but when the character is completely unlikeable and uninteresting, you kind of want him to blow up and take the rest of the characters with him because they just don’t bring a whole lot to the film. It’s just very strange to have a pretty basic plotline already laid out and just to miss every single time is a feat inside itself that sort of deserves its own recognition. With the characters they threw on screen, they seemed to feel lost in what to do with them. Jesse Eisenberg needs to stick with dramas because he never leaves that genre even if its not, Aziz Ansari feels like he’s reading off his cue card, Danny McBride says fuck and expects you to laugh, and Nick Swardson acts like Nick Swardson and you just get a cast of boring characters doing boring things. It sucks to say, but they all were just unfunny in every way.

30 Minutes or Less is just a flat out terrible movie. There is no other way to put it, it’s just plain bad. Even someone who laughs easily would have a hard time being amused by this film. It’s something that should pass and go without being worthy of your time at all. It should be left alone. Only watch if it’s on accident and its 2am in the morning and you’re looking to go asleep.

Overall Score: 3.5/10