'30 Minutes or Less' review by Captain Raptor
I would have seen 30 Minutes or Less ages ago were it not for the consensus of the critics that it wasn't very good. The talent involved is phenomenal (Ruben Fleischer and Jesse Eisenberg teaming up again after the near-flawless Zombieland, with support from stars of two of the best TV comedies of recent years, Aziz Ansari and Danny McBride), but sure-fire combinations have failed me before (such as McBride's fantastically cast but abysmally unfunny spoof Your Highness) so I never made the effort to see it in cinemas.
I find myself both cursing my own cynicism and perplexed by the negative opinions of the film-loving community. 30 Minutes or Less had me thoroughly entertained from start to finish. Jesse Eisenberg isn't as funny here as he was in Zombieland, but he's still perfectly good in the comical role, and he manages to act with realistic terror and anguish in the early scenes where the bomb is first strapped onto him without ever killing the mood. There are a couple of action scenes, which strike a perfect balance between being low-key and infrequent enough not to disrupt the comedy and being visually impressive to still dazzle the audience. What surprised me about the comedy is that is wasn't anywhere near as dark as you'd expect from a film about bank robbery, bombs and hitmen. There's the occasional crudeness (this is to be expected; Danny McBride's in it) but more than anything else it's a buddy comedy about Jesse Eisenberg's slacker and his on-the-up former best friend played by Aziz Ansari. Aziz brings a lot of likeability to the role and prevents him from ever coming across as boring or nagging when he berates Eisenberg. The ups and downs of their friendship feel entirely authentic and the two leads share some fantastic chemistry, particularly during the bank robbery scene itself. There are a couple of decent side characters, such as Michael Pena's insecure mercenary (who bags a couple of the film's best lines when trying to give himself a pep-talk) but the combination of Eisenberg's mumbling God-of-all-slackers and Ansari's likeable and genuinely funny straight man is by far the best thing that 30 Minutes or Less has to offer.
Like last week's review of Now You See Me, the film is held together by an on-form cast; however this time round they're underpinned by a stronger script that would be entertaining in its own right. Surprisingly, the film comes complete with a full plot and character arcs which provide a lot of energy and interest to the film. I'm particularly fond of the antagonist's convoluted plan - strap a bomb to a pizza boy and force him to rob a bank so I can get the money to hire an assassin to kill my Dad so I can inherit enough money to run a tanning salon that's a front for a prostitution ring - which is the greatest/worst evil scheme since Hot Fuzz. Unfortunately, Zombieland (quite possibly the best film of 2009) casts a looming shadow over the whole affair. Not one bit of the film is good enough to be even comparable to the film that put Eisenberg on the map in the first place, and 30 Minutes or Less is lacking all the madness and fast-pace possessed by Zombieland that would be a welcome addition (perhaps even a necessary improvement) in this film.
30 Minutes or Less isn't a classic or a must-see, but I feel it's certainly worthy of far more than the dissatisfied reaction it was greeted with. Fleischer and Eisenberg can't quite recapture the brilliance of Zombieland, but it's a perfectly enjoyable comedy with little to no weak moments. Ansari and Eisenberg put in excellent performances and the plot is different and crazy enough to entertain. Even the soundtrack is awesome. 30 Minutes or Less is funny, verging on hilarious, another feather in the cap of the various cult stars who worked on it and overall the film has been unfairly maligned.
I would have seen 30 Minutes or Less ages ago were it not for the consensus of the critics that it wasn't very good. The talent involved is phenomenal (Ruben Fleischer and Jesse Eisenberg teaming up again after the near-flawless Zombieland, with support from stars of two of the best TV comedies of recent years, Aziz Ansari and Danny McBride), but sure-fire combinations have failed me before (such as McBride's fantastically cast but abysmally unfunny spoof Your Highness) so I never made the effort to see it in cinemas.
I find myself both cursing my own cynicism and perplexed by the negative opinions of the film-loving community. 30 Minutes or Less had me thoroughly entertained from start to finish. Jesse Eisenberg isn't as funny here as he was in Zombieland, but he's still perfectly good in the comical role, and he manages to act with realistic terror and anguish in the early scenes where the bomb is first strapped onto him without ever killing the mood. There are a couple of action scenes, which strike a perfect balance between being low-key and infrequent enough not to disrupt the comedy and being visually impressive to still dazzle the audience. What surprised me about the comedy is that is wasn't anywhere near as dark as you'd expect from a film about bank robbery, bombs and hitmen. There's the occasional crudeness (this is to be expected; Danny McBride's in it) but more than anything else it's a buddy comedy about Jesse Eisenberg's slacker and his on-the-up former best friend played by Aziz Ansari. Aziz brings a lot of likeability to the role and prevents him from ever coming across as boring or nagging when he berates Eisenberg. The ups and downs of their friendship feel entirely authentic and the two leads share some fantastic chemistry, particularly during the bank robbery scene itself. There are a couple of decent side characters, such as Michael Pena's insecure mercenary (who bags a couple of the film's best lines when trying to give himself a pep-talk) but the combination of Eisenberg's mumbling God-of-all-slackers and Ansari's likeable and genuinely funny straight man is by far the best thing that 30 Minutes or Less has to offer.
Like last week's review of Now You See Me, the film is held together by an on-form cast; however this time round they're underpinned by a stronger script that would be entertaining in its own right. Surprisingly, the film comes complete with a full plot and character arcs which provide a lot of energy and interest to the film. I'm particularly fond of the antagonist's convoluted plan - strap a bomb to a pizza boy and force him to rob a bank so I can get the money to hire an assassin to kill my Dad so I can inherit enough money to run a tanning salon that's a front for a prostitution ring - which is the greatest/worst evil scheme since Hot Fuzz. Unfortunately, Zombieland (quite possibly the best film of 2009) casts a looming shadow over the whole affair. Not one bit of the film is good enough to be even comparable to the film that put Eisenberg on the map in the first place, and 30 Minutes or Less is lacking all the madness and fast-pace possessed by Zombieland that would be a welcome addition (perhaps even a necessary improvement) in this film.
30 Minutes or Less isn't a classic or a must-see, but I feel it's certainly worthy of far more than the dissatisfied reaction it was greeted with. Fleischer and Eisenberg can't quite recapture the brilliance of Zombieland, but it's a perfectly enjoyable comedy with little to no weak moments. Ansari and Eisenberg put in excellent performances and the plot is different and crazy enough to entertain. Even the soundtrack is awesome. 30 Minutes or Less is funny, verging on hilarious, another feather in the cap of the various cult stars who worked on it and overall the film has been unfairly maligned.
I enjoyed 30 Minutes or Less, found it funny and yes with meaning... In fact, I really started being a Jesse Eisenberg fan because of it
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear that somebody agrees with me! I was first exposed to Mr Eisenberg through Zombieland.
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