30 Minutes or Less (2011)

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...

Director:

Ruben Fleischer

Writers:

Michael Diliberti (screenplay), Michael Diliberti (story),

Stars:

Jesse Eisenberg, Danny McBride, Aziz Ansari

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jesse Eisenberg	...	Nick
Danny McBride	...	Dwayne
Aziz Ansari	...	Chet
Nick Swardson	...	Travis
Dilshad Vadsaria	...	Kate
Michael Peña	...	Chango
Bianca Kajlich	...	Juicy
Fred Ward	...	The Major
Sam Johnston	...	15 Year Old #1
Jack Foley	...	15 Year Old #2
Elizabeth Wright Shapiro	...	Chet's Date
Brett Gelman	...	Pizza Boss
Paul Tierney	...	Rodney
Staci Lynn Fletcher	...	Family Dollar Cashier
Gary Brichetto	...	Mr. Fisher

Storyline

The not so smart Dwayne intends to open a massage parlor with his partner Travis, but he does not have money for the investment. He decides to hire a hit-man to kill his father, The Major, who won a large amount of money in the lottery years ago, but the killer demands US$ 100,000 for the job. Dwayne and Travis kidnap the pizza delivery boy Nick and they dress Nick in a vest with a timer and several bombs. Then Dwayne tells Nick that he has ten hours to rob US$ 100,000 from a bank. Once he does, he would give Nick the code to release the vest. Nick summons his best friend Chet to help him in the heist but the scheme does not work the way Dwayne has plotted.

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Plot Keywords:

pizza delivery | scheme | pizza delivery boy | heist | marijuana joint | 

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Taglines:

A lot can happen in 30 minutes.

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for crude and sexual content, pervasive language, nudity and some violence

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official Facebook [fr]

Country:

Germany Canada USA

Language:

English German Spanish

Release Date:

12 August 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

30 minutos o menos

Filming Locations:

Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$28,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$13,330,118 (USA) (12 August 2011)

Gross:

$37,053,924 (USA) (23 September 2011)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Media Rights Capital, Red Hour Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Datasat Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Fred Ward is credited as The Major, but near final third of the film when he is walking through his house, his oversized lottery check is shown on the wall, issued to him. Therefore, his character's name is Jerry Mikowiski.

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Goofs

When he gets in the car the driver starts a clock for 30 minutes (the pizza is cooked). The 30 minutes should start when the order is placed otherwise the driver could just lie about the time.

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Quotes

Nick: [fighting with Chet] You're twins. Did you feel it when I was fucking her?

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Crazy Credits

At the end of the credits, there is an ad for Dwayne's tanning/prostitution parlor, Major Tan.

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Connections

References Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)

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Soundtracks

"Hard Hitter Reggaeton-JP"
Written by Lora Wellington
Courtesy of Jingle Punks

User Reviews

Good cast and premise without the writers to handle it

The film's plot is just how it is presented, so I will just focus on where the film fell short despite all the ingredients for success.

I saw the trailer for this and was hoping for a good, not great, summer comedy. The quality of writing in this genre can be difficult to predict based on trailers because we see two minutes of footage trying to bring us to the theater, which often leaves the best jokes spoiled before the first minute. The main reason I chose to watch 30 Minutes or Less was because of Jesse Eisenburg. Coming off of his solid performance in The Social Network and his previous roles in comedy, surely he is in a position to wait for a good script.

There is a good cast here of actors who have had supporting roles or just a brief scene in big comedies over the past few years (Aziz Ansari and Nick Swardson in particular), who outside the comedy circuit aren't recognizable names yet. Danny McBride is getting perfect at playing this kind of character (the drug dealer in Observe and Report comes to mind) who projects the pure alpha male ego and aggression of someone of authority - all while misusing every quote, saying and fact considered to be common knowledge.

I just erased a long analysis of my gripes, which aren't necessary to explain in such detail. The script was just flawed for comedy in my eyes and no one could save it. Mainly, the movie went back and forth between crazy but theoretically possible and not trying at all to seem believable. The characters are sometimes exaggerated kinds of people that exist and those who cannot, and with whom no one could relate to. Good comedies require more than lots of good jokes and actors. It all must come together in some way that works on the level presented, because context is what humor plays off. The best jokes of the film could be put essentially anywhere in any film and work the same.