30 Minutes or Less actually has a 83 minutes to do its job, which is to be stupid, be funny, and be done. And commendably so—it’s the funniest stupid comedy this summer, and Paul Constant is a joyless sourpuss when he says otherwise.
There is, of course, the semblance of a plot. Danny McBride and Nick Swarsdon need a hefty chunk of money to hire a two-bit hit man to knock off McBride’s dad for his lottery winnings. So they kidnap pizza boy Jesse Eisenberg, rig him up with a homemade bomb vest, and then force him to commit a bank robbery. He in turn enlists his best friend/roommate/schoolteacher Aziz Ansari to help him with this out-of-character undertaking. What else do you need to know? There are swear words and crass language and a love interest. Everything turns out relatively okay, even though there is a flame thrower eventually involved. What did you expect?
Danny McBride always plays Danny McBride, but damned if I don’t always enjoy that big-balled braggart character. (I will gladly get a drink with Kenny Powers at any time.) Jesse Eisenberg playing geeky tentative Jesse Eisenberg, who is almost a second thought next to scene-stealer and ad-libber extraordinaire Aziz Ansari. And who doesn’t love Aziz Ansari? People that I have no interest in getting a drink with. Paul Constant, this means you.
30 Minutes or Less opens today at Pacific Place, Metro Cinemas, and Oaktree.