30 Minutes or Less (2011)

Director: Ruben Fleischer

Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Danny McBride, Nick Swardson

Synopsis: Two fledgling criminals kidnap a pizza delivery guy, strap a bomb to his chest, and inform him that he has mere hours to rob a bank or else…

Jesse Eisenberg (Zombieland, Now You See Me) goes from the head of a global internet phenomenon to slacker pizza delivery guy in 30 Minutes or Less – a fact that is acknowledged by a throwaway reference to Facebook early on in this action comedy hybrid (given the omnipresence of Zucker’s social media network, Eisenberg will probably end up making throwaway references like this for the rest of his career).   Through blind misfortune he ends up delivering to Dwayne (Danny McBride – Due Date, This is the End) and his buddy (Nick Swardson), who have hatched a crackpot plan to force some unlucky loser into robbing a bank of $100,000 so that they will have enough to pay for the assassination of Dwayne’s dad.

It sounds a bit convoluted, but it’s basically quite a straightforward plot which drives along at a non-stop pace that prevents things from becoming boring, even though they don’t always make a lot of sense.   The humour in 30 Minutes or Less doesn’t always work, and while it’s pretty juvenile there are still more hits than misses. Highlight is an amusing cameo role for action veteran Fred Ward (Southern Comfort, 2 Guns).

(Reviewed 5th March 2012)