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30 Minutes or Less - September 23rd

Wednesday 17th August 2011 | Osh

Nick is a small town pizza delivery guy whose mundane life collides with the big plans of two wanna-be criminal masterminds.

Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer takes everything that was great about his 2009 film (the chaotic tone, the bouts of violence, Jesse Eisenberg) and brings it to the boil in this manic comedy. With The Social Network on his CV, Eisenberg probably has his pick of Hollywood scripts, so it is very telling that he is reunited with Fleischer as the pair obviously work well together.

Eisenberg stars as Nick, a pizza delivery boy who is kidnapped by Dwayne (Danny McBride) and Travis (Nick Swardson). The two kidnappers are in desperate need of cash in order to pay an assassin hired to kill Dwayne’s father, so they attach a bomb to poor Nick’s chest and instruct him to rob a bank. If he fails to do so, they will blow him up. Cue help from Nick’s estranged best friend Chet (Aziz Ansari), as they attempt to rob the bank and save Nicks life.

It is a fantastic premise, but the film’s success lies in Fleischer's execution; the action set pieces are tight and snappy, the dialogue frenetic and hilarious. The film’s greatest asset, however, is its slightly off-kilter approach. Some elements are just so lovingly random (Nick's kidnappers greet him wearing ape masks, for instance) that they will reward multiple viewings, while the performances are uniformly brilliant. Eisenberg can do this smart-mouthed nerd schtick in his sleep, but there is a certain joy and novelty in seeing Eisenberg wade through increasingly insane situations. Ansari, who has had brief but memorable appearances in I Love You, Man and Get Him to the Greek, really comes in to his own here. Elsewhere McBride and Swardson are both wonderfully mental and inept as the kidnappers. If you like your comedies big, brash and on the verge of insanity, you could do much worse.

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