Big Screen Peter: 30 Minutes or Less

review by Peter Lewis

“30 Minutes or Less” is the latest in a string of bromance comedies that have appeared in the past decade. Unlike comedic stalwarts “Old School” or “Superbad,” “30 Minutes or Less” doesn’t bring much to the genre save some awkward moments (courtesy of bad acting) and a handful of laughs.

The film stars Jesse Eisenberg as Nick, a reasonably intelligent, but unmotivated pizza delivery boy. He’s set up as the everyman slacker — still sifting through the detritus of his existence in the hopes he might create some amalgamation of contented success. Through vague insinuation, this career failure is chalked up as a casualty of his parents getting divorced during adolescence.

Eisenberg first broke onto the Hollywood scene as the slacker lead in “Zombieland,” a role and a film that seemed to owe its successes more to Woody Harrelson and a well-written script than anything else. And this was followed with the lead role in “The Social Network,” an incessantly over-lauded film that allowed Eisenberg to stretch his oeuvre by playing a hyper-intelligent nerd. In a twist, however, this nerd alters the landscape of society across the globe.

Granted, I’m being a little unfair to Eisenberg. He’s fine in the film, but really adds nothing to it. Which is generally something you would like to avoid when casting a lead actor. There is nothing there … He’s just the latest Michael Cera, bringing nothing to the table, but by a mix of fate circumstance, he’s become Hollywood’s fixation for what mid-20s America is now. He’s the new bridge to slackerdom.

Playing opposite of Eisenberg, and a much better “bridge” to the Adolescent Adults of America (AAA), is Aziz Ansari as Chet. Unlike Nick, Chet has a job (teacher) and a relatively stable lifestyle. His persona is also more accessible to audiences: he’s reached that crossroad between the uninhibited exuberance of college/early-post college years and the (presumably) staid existence of adulthood, still partaking in the former from time to time, but mostly responsible.

While Asnari brings plenty of laughs to the table, there’s no chemistry between the two.  There’s no urgency, no real reason to care that Nick has a bomb strapped to his chest that will blow up if he doesn’t rob a bank. It’s just whiney, WASP bitching with some jokes tossed in the mix every few minutes. And most people get plenty of bitching in their life already.

On the other side of the bromance is Dwayne & Travis, played by Danny McBride and Nick Swardson respectively. McBride is his same tired self. This time, his deluded egoist role is the scion of a wealthy military father. Frustrated and angry, he attempts to subvert his father’s tyrannical rule and inherit his money by hiring a hit man. And to pay for these services? Dwayne decides to kidnap a pizza boy and force him to rob a bank by strapping a bomb to his chest. While the concept is a bit novel, especially for a comedy film, the role is nothing new for McBride. He plays it well, but at this point, it’s a bit overplayed.

Swardson, on the other hand, is delightful as Nick. Inherently good, he’s often confused by the words and deeds of his best-friend. But because he’s not quite bright in anything beyond explosives, he’s usually roped into shenanigans. Though the antics of McBride are decidedly passe, the dynamic between this pair was markedly better than that of Asnari and Eisenberg. A fact that is largely made possible by Swardson.

Though the talent is evidently present throughout, the movie winds its way through 80 odd minutes of outlandish situations to no effect. The end result? A painfully disjointed narrative that offers one scrap of redemption: a perfect ending imbued with unparalleled comedic schadenfreude. It doesn’t make up for the rest of the film, but makes the exit slightly sunnier.

• 30 Minutes or Less is playing at the Carmike 14 and the Malco Cinema 12 in Fort Smith, and the Malco Van Buren Cinema. Link here for time and ticket info.

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