30 Minutes Or Less

"Very Good"

30 Minutes Or Less Review


There's no depth or meaning in this light bit of goofiness, but if you're in the mood for some random escapism, it's the kind of movie that keeps you chuckling. And often laughing out loud.

Slackers Dwayne and Travis (McBride and Swardson) are fed up with pressure from Dwayne's militaristic father (Ward), and decide to bump him off to get his money. They hire a hitman (Pena), but need cash to pay him, so they kidnap pizza delivery boy Nick (Eisenberg), strap a bomb to his chest and force him to rob a bank in the next 10 hours. He enlists his pal Chet (Ansari) and, with little time to spare, off they go. But of course nothing goes as planned.

The film has a freewheeling tone, as if the cast and crew made up the story as they went along from a central plotline that's just about enough for a brief comedy sketch. So it's padded out with a series of crazy antics, goofy mishaps and undeveloped side characters, such as Kate (Vadsaria), Chet's sister and the object of Nick's crush.

And despite the guns and explosives, there isn't much real sense of menace.

Every scene is played for laughs, and most of the time this works: the bank robbery is genuinely hilarious, as is the chaotic money hand-off. But none of it sticks around for us to pick apart the internal logic. And while some scenes dip too far into genuinely disturbing violence, no one actually seems to get hurt. Or at least they don't dwell on it.

Fleischer keeps things moving briskly, and the likable cast has fun with their flippant, goofy characters (Eisenberg even gets in a Facebook joke). No one is particularly sympathetic, but then there isn't a proper villain either, and none of the performances are much of a stretch. The action scenes are directed with a sometimes startling authenticity, as things continually take surprisingly nasty turns. And in the end there isn't a moral message to be found anywhere. Which is kind of refreshing, really.



30 Minutes Or Less

Facts and Figures

Genre: Action/Adventure

Run time: 83 mins

In Theaters: Friday 12th August 2011

Box Office USA: $37.1M

Box Office Worldwide: $35.5M

Budget: $28M

Distributed by: Sony Pictures

Production compaines: Columbia Pictures

Reviews

Contactmusic.com: 3.5 / 5

Rotten Tomatoes: 45%
Fresh: 70 Rotten: 87

IMDB: 6.2 / 10

Cast & Crew

Director: Ruben Fleischer

Starring: as Nick, as Dwayne, as Chet, as Juicy, as Travis, as Chango, as The Major, as Kate, as Pizza Boss

Contactmusic


Links


New Movies

Star Wars: The Last Jedi Movie Review

Star Wars: The Last Jedi Movie Review

After the thunderous reception for J.J. Abrams' Episode VII: The Force Awakens two years ago,...

Daddy's Home 2 Movie Review

Daddy's Home 2 Movie Review

Like the 2015 original, this comedy plays merrily with cliches to tell a silly story...

The Man Who Invented Christmas Movie Review

The Man Who Invented Christmas Movie Review

There's a somewhat contrived jauntiness to this blending of fact and fiction that may leave...

Ferdinand Movie Review

Ferdinand Movie Review

This animated comedy adventure is based on the beloved children's book, which was published in...

Brigsby Bear Movie Review

Brigsby Bear Movie Review

Director Dave McCary makes a superb feature debut with this offbeat black comedy, which explores...

Battle of the Sexes Movie Review

Battle of the Sexes Movie Review

A dramatisation of the real-life clash between tennis icons Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs,...

Shot Caller Movie Review

Shot Caller Movie Review

There isn't much subtlety to this prison thriller, but it's edgy enough to hold the...

Advertisement
The Disaster Artist Movie Review

The Disaster Artist Movie Review

A hilariously outrageous story based on real events, this film recounts the making of the...

Stronger Movie Review

Stronger Movie Review

Based on a true story about the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, this looks like one...

Only the Brave Movie Review

Only the Brave Movie Review

Based on a genuinely moving true story, this film undercuts the realism by pushing its...

Wonder Movie Review

Wonder Movie Review

This film may be based on RJ Palacio's fictional bestseller, but it approaches its story...

Happy End  Movie Review

Happy End Movie Review

Austrian auteur Michael Haneke isn't known for his light touch, but rather for hard-hitting, award-winning...

Patti Cake$ Movie Review

Patti Cake$ Movie Review

Seemingly from out of nowhere, this film generates perhaps the biggest smile of any movie...

The Limehouse Golem Movie Review

The Limehouse Golem Movie Review

A Victorian thriller with rather heavy echoes of Jack the Ripper, this film struggles to...

Advertisement
Artists
Actors
    Filmmakers
      Artists
      Bands
        Musicians
          Artists
          Celebrities
             
              Artists
              Interviews