30 Minutes Or Less (6/10)

In a way it's almost better that this movie isn't doing great at the box office. It's making money but that's because I doubt it's budget was that high. The reason why it's a good thing is well it means that people are seeing better and smarter movers (hopefully). I'm pretty sure the producers weren't thinking this would be comedy gold. Rather they wanted to make quick cash on whoever would spend money on this one. It doesn't seem the target audience for this movies is thought highly of. "30 Minutes Or Less" is a movie that barely passes on my rating system. I didn't hate it and laughed at several scenes. However this is one of the low point comedies of the year.

So this film is based off a true story. Whether or not the pizza guy in real life was in on the crime, he still died. I saw the public address the police gave saying he was involved and the family didn't just sit there and take it. Making a comedy about this situation is pretty sketchy and controversial but let's over look it for now. Watching the movie with a prejudice isn't the best thing. So let's try to get some laughs for what it's worth.

Nick (Jesse Eisenberg miscasted and wasting his talent) delivers pizza for a living. He speeds to his targets but you get the sense he doesn't really care about reaching there in time. He lives with his friend Chet (Aziz Ansari) and is in love with Chet's twin sister (Dilshad Vadsaria). The twin sister might be one of the weakest plot elements I've seen in a film ever. The movie remains exactly the same if she was never there in the first place. Else where two buddies (Danny McBride and Nick Swardson) come up with a crazy plan. They get a hit man (Michael Pena) to kill McBride's father in order to get his fortune. They need money to pay the hit man. So they attach a bomb to our lowly hero Nick and have him get them $100,000 (Seems like way to much money). Nick and Chet are in for the ride of their lives.

A film like "30 Minutes Or Less" should be fast and energetic. It shouldn't slow down and try to keep the thrills for all it's running time. However this movie slows down a lot and goes into classic bromance moments between Chet and Nick. A bomb on your chest should make you a little bit more anxious and dryer than making dumb little jokes. The comedy will get the occasional laugh but falls flat far too often. The almost serious moments of the film where they try to move the plot forward fail on most levels (comedy and involvement being the most important). Also maybe it was just me but the amount of product placement in the film is close to "Transformers" level. I'd say about 95% of the scenes tried to either subtly or forcefully shove a name brand product down my throat. It was really annoying but maybe it was just me. Although I think it's unanimous that "30 Minutes Or Less" is one of the most mediocre comedies of the year and even in several years. "Bridesmaids" and "Cedar Rapids" are the only two comedies worth praising over this year but "Paul" and "Horrible Bosses" were still good. This one is nothing compared to those films. It's a movie you watch with a forgiving gaze that comes from a lack of sleep but being wide awake wouldn't change what I say.

6/10
Recommendation: The weakest 6/10 I've even given, Thought about dropping the rating but I laughed enough that it would be me overreacting to lower it. Wait for the DVD and even then don't buy it, rent if you want.