Aug 12, 2011

BPS Film Review: 30 Minutes or Less

Jesse Eisenberg and Aziz Ansari in 30 Minutes or Less.Image from Movieweb.com


IMDB Plot Description:
Two fledgling criminals kidnap a pizza delivery guy, strap a bomb to his chest, and inform him that he has mere hours to rob a bank or else...

Film Review by Christian Salinas
This film is everything you expect it to be; an over the top, not-to-be-taken-seriously funny summer comedy. No one in this film will be nominated for an Oscar, it offers no profound message, and none of the characters are well developed…. and that’s okay. I’m pretty sure no one, neither the audience nor the filmmakers, were expecting any of these elements to be the main attraction of this film. The success of this movie is completely dependent on its entertainment value.

Taking all of the above mentioned statements into consideration, I would say this film does accomplish the goals it appears to have laid out for itself; It was funny, and it will appeal to a young audience only seeking a night out at the movies with friends, which I have no doubt is the originally intended audience.

The Good:
This film does have some genuinely funny moments. It features a diverse(ish) cast, and aside from the final few minutes, the plot is actually fairly well structured. It was also nice to see Jesse Eisenberg experiment with a ‘non-nerdy’ role.

The Not so Good:
Most of the humor is mean-spirited with some of it not having much to do with the storyline. None of the characters are particularly likable, and the story does lose its structure in the final few minutes with some of the characters making ‘out-of-character’ decisions, and leaving a lot of loose ends.

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