Brightest Young Things

I almost began my review of Ruben Fleischer’s 30 Minutes or Less by observing how its title could also be advice on how to improve the screenplay, but then I’d be just as guilty of the movie’s shamelessly derivative nature. In his follow-up to Zombieland, Fleischer abandons wit and tension to tell stupid story about stupid criminals. I really enjoy smart comedy about dumb characters – in fact, the cast is well-known for appearing in such movies – yet here they merely riff on their stale comic personae. Fleischer films car-chases and explosions without the visual flair that made Zombieland such a success, so even the action is rote beyond help.

Dwayne (Danny McBride) is a semi-functional man-child who sucks the teat of his father (Fred Ward), a hard-ass ex-Marine who won the lottery. Along with Travis (Nick Swardson), Dwayne hatches a plan for a hit-man (Michael Peña) to kill his father. Dwayne does not have the $100,000 to pay off the hit-man, so he hatches yet another plan: he straps a bomb to Nick (Jesse Eisenberg), an suspecting pizza boy, and tells him he has nine hours to rob a bank or it explodes. Nick flips his shot (who wouldn’t?), and instills the help of best pal Chet (Aziz Ansari) to rob the bank. Without a strategy, Nick and Chet borrow from Point Break, though they’re nowhere as menacing.

When I say the movie is derivative, I’m not referring to its premise. Screenwriter Michael Diliberti intriguingly takes his inspiration from a real story about a bank robber who wore a bomb vest. The problem is how Diliberti flushes out his screenplay. Danny McBride and Aziz Ansari are energetic performers, yet they’re at their funniest when they have straight-men to riff against. Swardson and Eisenberg rarely have an opportunity to balance out frenzied vulgarity, so they all seem like they're trying too hard. For example, there is a scene where Chet and Nick one-up each with past betrayals. The punch-lines and delivery are virtually identical, which is a stark contrast from Zombieland, where Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson handle the dialogue with differently so the audience has some breathing room. Pena and Ward succeed where the others do not, but that’s not because they’re not stuck within the confines of a lackluster buddy comedy.

Then there is the action, which never quite develops a sense of space or urgency. The best-constructed sequence, a car chase, relies on the surprise of T-boned vehicle instead of a thrilling pursuit. Actually, “surprise” is too generous a word, as each vehicle – whether it’s a police cruiser or a getaway car – suffers a similar fate. Much to my chagrin, the trailer reveals the best part of the robbery itself, again proving that those who edit them value ticket sales more than entertainment. 30 Minutes or Less has some clever moments (the hastiness of the conclusion is satisfying), and a romantic sub-plot develops briskly enough so it generates modest tension. But as an attempt to combine comedy and action, this movie barely succeeds at either.

Previously in Another Movie Guy?:

• 9/16: Movie Review: "The Interrupters."
• 9/16: Movie Review: "Straw Dogs."
• 8/31: Movie Review: "The Debt."
• 8/26: Movie Review: "Pianomania."
• 8/26: Movie Review: "Brighton Rock."
• 8/19: Movie Review: "The Names of Love."
• 8/19: Movie Review: "Attack the Block."
• 8/12: Movie Review: "The Guard."
• 8/5: Movie Review: "The Devil's Double."
• 8/5: "HE SAID" Movie Review: "The Future."