"30 Minutes or Less" is 1 Hour and 23 Minutes of Dangerous Fun

Two years after his surprise hit Zombieland comes Ruben Fleischer's next comedy 30 Minutes or Less also starring Jesse Eisenberg.  This time, instead of battling the undead, Eisenberg must deal with a couple of idiotic criminals that force him to rob a bank.  As goofy as the premise may seem, the movie still works to some extent even with a few misfires.  Danny McBride and Nick Swardson, who play the criminal "masterminds" Dwayne and Travis, come up with a plan to have Dwayne's father killed so they can inherit the one or two million dollars he has left after winning the lottery in hopes of opening up a prostitution ring to then make even more money.  They decide to hire a hit man to do the job, but must come up with 100 grand to pay him.  Thus, comes the brilliant idea of capturing a pizza boy (Eisenberg as Nick), strapping a bomb to his chest, and demanding that he rob a bank unless he wants to explode.  Sounds pretty moronic, right?  Right.  And that's the fun of it.

Following Zombieland and The Social Network, Eisenberg plays a character that is a combination of the nerdy and nervous boy we saw in the horror spoof and the self-centered and hated genius in the Oscar nominated film.  There is even a scene when the girl Nick loves, who also happens to be his best friend Chet's sister, mentions someone's Facebook page and Eisenberg says "You know I don't use that.  I'm off the grid." Ha ha.  Danny McBride, on the other hand, is no different than the characters he has portrayed in every other piece of work you've seen him in.  I don't think he will ever be asked to play a role that doesn't require excessive use of the F-bomb and a handful of blow job jokes.  And boy are there a lot.  The good thing, however, is that it doesn't cross the line of too dirty and offensive.  It manages to remain funny throughout.  The same goes for Nick Swardson, who has a few laugh out loud moments.

The real star though is Aziz Ansari as Chet.  He is consistently funny in everything I've seen him do, from standup comedy to his role as Tom Haverford on Parks and Recreation.  Every scene he is in guarantees a laugh.  Overall, every character is funny, even Michael Peña as the hit man, and I normally can't stand him because he tries way too hard to be hysterical.

Although the movie has a foolish plot, it's aware of its absurdity, making it a hilariously good time.  The ending is probably the least believable part, but as you'll come to expect throughout the whole film, Aziz saves it with one line.  If you're a college student like myself and only have time to see one more movie before you go back to school, I'd recommend 30 Minutes or Less.