30 Minutes Or Less Review: 83 Minutes Of Bro’ Bonding

You know what they say, if you want something done right…get someone else to do it. Especially if it’s an overly complicated heist and that’s exactly how Dwayne (Danny McBride), the self-proclaimed man with the plan, and his hopelessly loyal sidekick, Travis (Nick Swardson), decide to handle their quest for a sweet one hundred thousand dollars in the movie 30 Minutes or Less. Looking for some poor sap to pull off the foot work in the first step to their much larger plan for monetary domination (more specifically acquiring a ten million dollar inheritance and then opening a kickass tanning salon that offers happy endings) was the easy part and that’s where the unwary pizza delivery driver Nick (Jesse Eisenberg) came into the picture. With a homemade bomb strapped to his chest and less than half a day on the ticking timer, Nick is forced to come up with the goons’ money or be blown to pieces. Luckily, his best friend Chet (Aziz Ansari) becomes his trusty ride or die partner and the pursuit begins.

The duo comedies are some of the best out there and 30 Minutes or Less gives you a double dose with two rivaling pairs trying to outsmart one another. Some of my favorite comedians are in this movie, like McBride and Swardson, and they each bring their distinct styles to the screen. However, if you’re not a Danny McBride fan like myself to begin with, you’re going to have a hard time watching this film, and more so if you can’t stand the show Eastbound & Down, but especially if you’re like me and can’t stop thinking “Kenny Powers” whenever you see him in just about anything these days. Your Highness was to me Kenny Powers in tights and looking back, The Foot Fist Way may have been the future Kenny Powers with a black belt. 30 Minutes or Less might just be Kenny Powers with a gun, but whatever the case I don’t really mind because it’s a comedic style I can’t stop finding hilarious. Jesse Eisenberg is another personality you’re going to have to tolerate since he’s been known to play similar bumbling and nervous characters in every film which I’m not normally a fan of so, when it comes to a lead role, I don’t tend to gravitate to his movies. Nick started out as I envisioned he would (bumbling and nervous) but as time went on, Eisenberg seemed to break out of the predictable mold and become just a little more badass, even more than in Zombieland, and the character Nick went from having no direction in life to fully taking charge of a dire situation. Also, his comedic timing was better than I expected so, as it turned out, I really liked Eisenberg in this movie.

Much of the movie was Nick and Chet trying to figure out how one acquires one hundred thousand dollars while at the same time tinkering with the logistics of removing an explosive vest from a human body. When Chet’s only solution of removing Nick’s arms to slide the vest off doesn’t fly, robbing a bank is the only option left. Between Dwayne and Travis’ constant watchful eyes, a dangerous hired hit man and a greedy stripper, all of which are out for the stolen money, all of the intercepting causes a bunch of unnecessary confusion and distress. Of course it wouldn’t be side-splitting hijinks if it didn’t, but it successfully kept me guessing how each character was going to get leverage out of the situations that were relentlessly popping up.

It was complete chaotic action surrounded by crude comedic banter but deep down I think 30 Minutes or Less was intended to be a bromantic comedy. While Dwayne made it clear he was the brains behind the operation, he couldn’t have formulated it without his pyrotechnic buddy, Travis. No matter how many times Dwayne put him down or lied to him about the true intent of the plan, Travis stuck by his side until they both came to the conclusion that, wannabe-hardened criminal mentalities aside, they actually cared about each other. The same went for Nick and Chet, despite the immature and ultimately insignificant conflict that drove them apart in the beginning of the movie, which proved the theory that having a bomb strapped to your body threatening your very existence can really bring two besties closer together.

Images courtesy of Sony Pictures.