30 Minutes Or Less [2011]

I’ve seen great comedies, and this isn’t one of them. As mainstream Hollywood studio movies go, “30 Minutes Or Less” will probably fulfill most audience’s desire for silliness. But despite a solid cast and a couple of laughs, it’s just not as clever as it seems to think it is. It has none of the qualities of Ruben Fleischer’s debut feature, “Zombieland”, and Jesse Eisenberg’s performance will definitely not earn him an Oscar nod. In fact, this is by far his worst movie as an actor. The plot: Danny McBride and Nick Swardson are a couple of lowlifes who decide to kill off McBride’s wealthy dad. But hiring a hitman requires money, and plenty of it. So they decide to find a loser and force him to rob a bank by strapping a time-bomb to his body. The unfortunate loser turns out to be Eisenberg, a pizza deliver boy, whose motto is to deliver in 30 minutes or less (hence the silly title of the film). You can probably figure out the rest. Eisenberg turns to his only friend, played by Aziz Ansari,  figuring he can’t rob a bank all by himself, and together, they turn this into a mess. I say mess because there’s absolutely nothing hilarious here. If your idea of a joke involves a couple of idiots with a fake gun, then be my guest. I’m still a fan of director Ruben Fleisher, and I’m eager for his next project (possibly “Zombieland 2”), but as far as “30 Minutes Or Less” is concerned, it can only be described as a misfire.

Rating: 1.5/4