30 Minutes or Less (15) **

30 Minutes or Less (15) **

Dir: Ruben Fleischer

Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Danny McBride, Aziz Ansari

Synopsis: Dwayne (McBride) is a 'big-dream' guy who, annoyed at his father (Fred Ward), decides to get him whacked. For this, he needs $100,000 to pay the hitman, and recruits stoner pizza delivery boy Nick (Eisenberg) to rob a bank for him by strapping a bomb to his chest.

Verdict: I thought with both the star and the director of Zombieland, a brilliant comic reimagining of the whole zombie genre, that 30 Minutes or Less would be just as funny. Yes, it had its moments, but on the whole it didn't live up to the expectations I had for it.

The better things about the film: Jesse Eisenberg and Aziz Ansari play Nick and Chet, two long time friends who have taken opposite paths in life. Nick is a dope smoking pizza delivery boy and Chet is a teacher. The two of them are convincing in their roles, with Eisenberg doing the panicky, almost kid, performance that develops into a man, much like in Zombieland.

These two deliver all the best comedy in the film, from the bank robbery, to threatening police officers with the line "You just brought a gun to a bomb fight!"

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Dwayne (McBride) and Travis (Nick Swardson). The characters are truly frustrating for their idiocy. This isn't the fault of the actors, but the writers, who seem to have been using the rule book which states that swearing and sex humour is the way to make a comedy film.

This said, McBride and Swardson do a good job of displaying the characters for what they are. Dwayne, the bully-ish leader of the two, whose hatred of his dad and disregard for others just go to highlight his stupidity and Travis, who while being thick, does atleast have an some modicum of technical intelligence (making a coded bomb vest for example)

All in all, a bit of a let down from the Zombieland duo, which left a lot to be desired.