Once they lure Nick out to an abandoned junkyard, knock him out and get him strapped with a bomb vest, they tell him he has 10 hours to rob a bank and get them $100,000 or the timer will blow and he'll be a goner. Nick goes to his best friend, Chet (comedian Aziz Ansari), for help because he doesn't think he can pull it off by himself, but the problem is that he and Chet are fighting over a long-ago romantic dalliance between Nick and Chet's twin, Kate (Dilshad Vadsaria). Chet puts aside his anger and the pair bumble through the bank robbery, only to discover that they've been double-crossed by Dwayne and Travis and that Chango has come to collect the cash, but without the code to disarm the bomb. Nick realizes that he and Chet have got to outwit the nitwits with the detonator if they are going to survive the day.
Jesse Eisenberg is fantastic, as always. He plays Nick perfectly, although Aziz Ansari overacts a good bit. I know he is more of a standup guy, and he's a great comedian, but I just wasn't crazy about him in this movie. He seemed to find his stride in the last half of the film a little bit better, but he's better at standup. Danny McBride plays the same role he always plays, a rude, obnoxious, foul-mouthed idiot, but he does it well. Nick Swardson is always pretty funny and he is at least somewhat likeable in his role, unlike the unapologetic McBride. Fred Ward is spot-on as Dwayne's dad.
As far as special features go, there's not a whole lot here. There is a featurette on the action and one on the cast, plus picture-in-picture commentary with the four major stars, as well as deleted scenes and outtakes. It's pretty generic stuff. As far as Blu-ray goes, the picture was crisp and clean, but this sort of film doesn't really beg for high definition because of the lack of special effects. It did have a good soundtrack, however.
30 Minutes or Less has its moments. I laughed a good bit, just not all the way through. While it's an implausible premise, Jesse Eisenberg is such a shining star that he makes the whole film worthwhile. If you are looking for some lowbrow laughs, check it out as a rental. It's just not one I'd watch over and over again.
