At the very end of 30 Minutes Or Less, a disclaimer pops up stating that any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. It's the standard "all persons fictitious" disclaimer. It's also a pretty blatant lie. The film, directed with his usual gift for comedy and silly action by Ruben Fleischer(Zombieland
), tells the story of a pizza delivery guy named Nick(Jesse Eisenberg), who is forced to rob a bank by two thugs by strapping a ticking time bomb to his chest. It's almost a note perfect copy of the 2003 case of pizza guy Brian Wells, who had the exact same thing happen to him. All the same people are represented. All the same motivations. Why hide it? Wells' story didn't have a happy ending, so knowing that it's hard to find a reason to laugh at such a tragedy.But I did it anyway. Within two minutes I had completely forgotten about the factual basis of the story. For what it's worth, Fleischer never gives you a moment to think about it. 30 Minutes Or Less is an energy blast of pure comedy adrenaline. Clocking in at only 83 minutes, it hits you hard and fast then skates out before there's ever a chance to get bored.
Pedal to the metal is how we're first introduced to Nick, racing through the city streets to deliver a pizza to two scheming teens. The joint he works for still subscribes to that long dead plan to arrive in under 30 minutes or the pizza's free. When Nick's only a few moments late, he promptly tricks them out of $40. Nick isn't a great guy, but he is a relatable one. While Nick is perfectly comfortable wasting away at a dead end gig, his neurotic best friend Chet(Aziz Ansari) is busy spoiling the minds of our youth as a teacher. As a pair, they're two peas in a pod. Drinking, complaining, and fighting about Chet's hot twin sister, Katie.
Across town, shiftless layabout Dwayne(Danny McBride) is ready to put a bullet in his drill sergeant Dad(Fred Ward), in order to gain an early inheritance. Blinded by the seductions of a manipulative stripper, Dwayne agrees to hire a hitman(Michael Pena) to do the job, but to pay him they're going to need $250,000. With the aid of his bumbling buddy(Nick Swardson), Dwayne kidnaps poor Nick and straps a bomb to his chest with one command: rob a bank to get the money in under 9 hours or go "Boom"!
Pretty simple, and thankfully the script by Michael Diliberti never allows us to dwell too much on the serious consequences if Nick were to fail. Each hilarious bit zips along at a rapid pace, and the dynamic between Eisenberg and Ansari is flawless. I've never been a fan of Ansari, but his jibber jabber, foul mouthed style works opposite his more reserved counterpart. Certainly Eisenberg isn't doing anything nearly as deep as in The Social Network
, but maintaining such a high level of humor for the film's duration isn't easy, either. I continue to have Danny McBride fatigue, tired of seeing him play the selfish overgrown child he plays in every single movie. Michael Pena deserves a meatier role than this, but he makes the most out of his limited opportunities as the only legit killer of the bunch. 30 Minutes Or Less is a lean, brisk action romp that isn't striving to make any points. It's aiming to be dumb, ridiculous fun, without any excess baggage. So yeah, the true story sucks and is a drag, but it's been eight years. Tragedy + Time = it's okay to enjoy yourself.
