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30 Minutes or Less - Film Review

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30 Minutes or Less is an action comedy starring Jesse Eisenberg, Aziz Ansari, Danny McBride and Nick Swardson. It is directed by Ruben Fleischer, who previously directed the popular Zombieland, back in 2009.

Eisenberg stars as Nick, a nondescript small town pizza delivery guy. He is a typical slacker and a 'man-child' who eats 'Lunchables' for dinner according to his flatmate and childhood friend Chet (Aziz Ansari), who has just started a job as a substitute teacher.

After learning Chet's twin sister Kate (Dilshad Vadsaria) has recently accepted a position at a Four Seasons hotel and will have to move away, Nick realises she is more than a friend. Later Nick reveals his feelings for Kate to Chet (among some other revelations) and they have a major (but quite humorous) falling out.

But things quickly turn from bad to worse for Nick, when he is kidnapped whilst delivering a pizza. When he wakes up, he finds a ticking bomb strapped to his chest. His kidnappers - who wear gorilla masks, demand $100,000 or else they will set the bomb off.

Nick, driven by the fact that this could be the last day of his somewhat insignificant life, begs Chet (who really does not like being around the bomb) to help him and the two set off to rob a bank.

While the premise may seem a little bit 'dark,' 30 Minutes or Less is actually reminiscent of the recent action comedies Pineapple Express and Observe and Report and is overall an enjoyable film. Eisenberg and Ansari make for a great bromance, while there is also a running joke about the bromance between the criminal masterminds portrayed by McBride and Swardson. Throw in a couple of 80s action film references ("That's some John McClane shit!"), including a police car chase montage to 'The Heat is On', some pretty vulgar one liners (Judd Apatow style crude humour) and Michael Peña as the 'assassin' aka 'Sugar Milk', whose not particularly 'assassin like' and you've got a pretty decent action comedy caper.

While the narrative of 30 Minutes or Less may seem far fetched, it does share some minor similarities with a 2003 incident in Erie, Pennsylvania.

I guess fact really is stranger than fiction.

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Why? A fun action comedy caper
When: From 12 August 2011 (USA), 16 September 2011 (UK), 16 February 2012 (Australia)
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