30 Minuten oder weniger (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, Nick Swardson

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 Shapiro	...	Chet's Date (as Elizabeth Wright Shapiro)
Brett Gelman	...	Pizza Boss
Paul Tierney	...	Rodney
Staci Lynn Fletcher	...	Family Dollar Cashier (as Staci Fletcher)
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 boy | heist gone wrong | unlikely criminal | bank heist | bank robbery | 

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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 [France]

Country:

Germany Canada USA

Language:

English German Spanish

Release Date:

12 August 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

30 Minuten oder weniger

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

When Nick is talking to Kate for the first time, it is mentioned that he doesn't have a Facebook account. Nick states that he is "off the grid". In fact, Jesse Eisenberg, who plays Nick, also played Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook in 2010 film The Social Network (2010).

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Goofs

Travis says that Kate knocked over his soda and delayed him turning her over to Nick. However, in Michigan the vernacular is to call a soda a "pop."

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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

Featured in Conan: What If the Title's Too Long for Andy to Successfully Fit It In to the Opening Announce? (2011)

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Soundtracks

Raining Blood
Written by Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King
Performed by Slayer (uncredited)
Ringtone courtesy of Gregg Pagani

User Reviews

What You Can Expect: 30 Minutes or Less

What you can expect is a strong cast trying to carry a story that doesn't have a ton of great material to work with. It sounds like it would be an interesting and funny film by the plot, but the material isn't outstanding.

Acting/Casting: 7* - The cast is great and the acting is on par. All of the cast give you exactly what you would anticipate. Eisenberg is a timid and scared pizza guy with a bomb strapped to his chest, Aziz Ansari plays his not so helpful sidekick, and Danny McBride and Nick Swardson play your idiot criminals. I thought this group did a nice job and the acting and comedy is solid.

Directing/Cinematography/Technical: 6* - Ruben Fleischer didn't have the strength of a script like Zombieland to make this film great, but I do believe he did the best he could with the story at hand. He has some unique qualities to his film making and therefore I give a small bump to this score.

Plot/Characters: 5.5* - The plot sounds intriguing and funny with a lot of potential, but in my opinion never really gets off the ground. This is Michael Diliberti's first produced screenplay, so I guess you could say that this was somewhat expected. At the end of the day, this is the weak point of the film.

Entertainment Value: 6* - This is a marginally entertaining film, but I felt it had the potential to be much funnier with the cast that it had available. That said, it still worth a watch for adult comedy fans.

My Score: 7+6+5.5+6 = 24.5/4 = 6.125

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