Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

30 Minutes or Less Blu-ray Movie Review

Sony once again delivers stunning video and audio in a new release Blu-ray.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman November 11, 2011

It’s a simple plan: find some patsy to rob the bank, hire out a hit on the old man with the cash, and collect on what’s left of what was once a vast fortune. Of course it doesn’t go as planned when the scheme involves two bumbling bad guys, a stripper and her gangster-wannabe boyfriend, and a pizza delivery boy and his nerdy kinda-sort best friend. 30 Minutes or Less, like its title promises to deliver a hot and fresh-from-the-oven pie on time or its free, is a fast-paced killer Comedy/Action hybrid that does indeed delivers on its promise of big laughs and goofy action, the picture a surprisingly entertaining romp that sees its characters stumble through the ins and outs of small-time, small-mind criminal activities. The film is of the “simple pleasures” variety. It’s not too raunchy, not too complicated, not too long, not too short. It’s like the perfect single-serving pizza, fresh and hot and tasty, satisfying but not too big and surely not bad enough to give its viewers the runs. It’s very well put together, but please, leave the bomb-making, flame-throwing, bank-robbing, club-stripping, gang-banging, and yes, pizza-baking and delivering to the professionals.

Die Hard in 30 Minutes or Less.

Wannabe tough guys -- and wannabe rich guys -- Dwayne (Danny McBride) and Travis (Nick Swardson) are tired of living under the thumb of Dwayne’s father (Fred Ward), and ex-military man who treats them harshly and is quickly blowing through the ten million dollars he won playing the lottery. Dwayne and Travis nevertheless live a pretty easy, carefree life, but Dwayne has dreams -- dreams of oping up a tanning parlor that will double as a house of ill repute -- but he needs some of daddy’s money to get his dream off the ground. When he confides in a local stripper (Bianca Kajlich), she suggests that Dwayne hire her boyfriend (Michael Peña) to put out a hit on his old man. There’s only one problem: a hit costs money, money that Dwayne doesn’t have. Enter Nick (Jesse Eisenberg), a pizza delivery guy who happens to drive the wrong pie to the wrong people and at the wrong time. Dwayne and Travis knock him out, strap a bomb to his chest, and inform him that he has ten hours to come up with one hundred thousand dollars or else: boom! Nick enlists the help of his on-and-off friend Chet (Aziz Ansari) to pull off a robbery at a local bank, but all involved will discover that a life of crime is far more costly than any of them bargained for.

30 Minutes or Less certainly isn’t the end-all, be-all of Action/Comedy hybrids. It’s neither super-funny nor heart-pounding exciting, but the film does succeed on its wit, charm, and simplicity. It actually works better with its elements toned down rather than souped up. The laughs are often subtle and stem from situational humor; very few of the jokes seem forced, and even though some of them don’t work all that well, the movie’s more subtle approach actually allows some of the worst offenders to slip through the cracks relatively unnoticed in favor of the greater, well-paced, and even-keeled whole. The same may be said for the action; most of the big stunts are overly stylized and play absurdly over-the-top for comic effect, but it works well in this instance, too, such scenes often playing as the funniest visual gags in the movie. 30 Minutes or Less is all about a consistent tone that runs through it; the characters take the events seriously, but the film paints them and their antics in a humorous light. It’s neither overtly stiff and focused nor it is just a wild, unfocused blob of unconnected humor.

Best, maybe, is that the cast takes the movie’s style and runs with it full-steam ahead. They play along with the deadly serious overtones and understand and execute the subtly humorous undertones perfectly. When the script fails, the actors don’t; their performances keep the film moving along at a brisk and enjoyable pace, retaining the essence and never getting too caught up in either of the film’s opposite extremes. Jesse Eisenberg, fresh off his success in the far more serious Drama The Social Network, plays a character who’s pretty much the opposite of the wealthy, intelligent Internet magnate Mark Zuckerberg, proving his range and abilities by portraying a poor, smart but not super-smart, pizza delivery guy with a bomb strapped to his chest with the same even keel, in-depth understanding of the character and story, even if this role obviously appears to be the less mentally and emotionally taxing of the two. Danny McBride and Nick Swardson, however, absolutely steal the show as something of a Beavis and Butt-Head duo, more mature and somewhat more intelligent than the famed MTV losers, but certainly working in that same ballpark, coming up with ways to try and improve themselves that can only backfire on them. The entire cast sports good, evident chemistry. The picture is technically polished and quickly paced. It’s a good little watch, a movie that’s nothing really special but that makes for quick and easy entertainment.

30 Minutes or Less Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

30 Minutes or Less is another stunner of a Sony Blu-ray release. The 1080p transfer is more or less flawless. The image features a very well balanced, extraordinarily crisp, wonderfully clear, and gorgeously film-like texture. Light grain accentuates its handsome façade and its retention helps bring out the best in every detail in every corner of the frame. Facial and clothing textures are cinematically natural. Very fine detail is evident everywhere, including the pizza delivery signs and trinkets in Nick's worn out blue car. Various building textures -- from rough scrap yard exteriors to the polished bank interior -- are seamless, and even small background elements like neighborhood grass yield faultless definition. The image is naturally deep, and it's free of any sort of print damage, no surprise considering it's brand-spanking-new. Better still, compression faults and digital manipulation are absent, and only a brief spurt of troublesome color gradations on human skin in a rather dark scene proves in the least bit distracting. Flesh tones are perfectly balanced, as are black levels, the latter never crushing out details or going to a washed out shade of gray. This is another wonderful release from Sony.

30 Minutes or Less Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Sony's DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack for 30 Minutes or Less is just as good as the film's 1080p video presentation. From the get-go, the track wields very high energy music. It's loud but crystal-clear, perfectly spaced, and highly satisfying. From the highest highs to the deepest lows, there's no audible flaw to be heard. Hard Rock music to open the movie? No problem. Heavier Hip-Hop beats? Excellent presence. Explosions, gun shots, car crashes, and all of the fun stuff play with the same audible enthusiasm, clarity, and power as the music. Each are exciting and seamlessly integrated, with the effects spreading out nicely but remaining focused and precise according to the accompanying visual. Ambience is very strong, too; the surrounds are used just enough and when called upon to carry light background chirping insects, mood music in a flower shop, or subtle cries during a bank robbery scene. Dialogue is center-focused, strong, and always clear; it never becomes lost underneath the robust music or hefty sound effects. Like the video, this is another in a very long line of Blu-ray excellence from Sony.

30 Minutes or Less Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

30 Minutes or Less contains a fair assortment of extras. Included is a video commentary track, two featurettes, a collection of deleted scenes, and outtakes.

• Picture-in-Picture Video Commentary: Director Ruben Fleischer and Actors Jesse Eisenberg, Aziz Ansari, Danny McBride, and Nick Swardson deliver a nice group commentary track (and it's Eisenberg's first time seeing the movie in its final form). They share plenty of anecdotes from the set, discuss the ins-and-outs of the moviemaking process, speak on shooting locales, improvisations, cut scenes, the details of the characters and stories, and plenty more. The video commentary appears in a rather large box that's maybe 1/4 the size of the movie. It doesn't really offer anything outside of watching the participants sitting together in front of microphones. Still, fans of the movie and/or the talent involved should enjoy this.
• Blowing Up with the Cast & Crew of 30 Minutes or Less (1080p, 14:08): Cast and crew offer a basic overview of the project, the cast's ad-libbing, the pleasures of the filmmaking process, the qualities the cast brought to the movie, and more.
• The Perfect Crime: Action and Comedy in 30 Minutes or Less (1080p, 10:58): Cast and crew discuss the film's hybrid style (while also examining filming locations). The piece is made from interview clips, behind-the-scenes footage, and plenty of short scenes from the movie.
• Deleted Scenes (1080p, 11:40): Christopher Fires and Then Rehires Nick, Nick Wakes Up Late/Rear View Mirror, Dwayne and Travis Raid the Fridge, Dwayne's Dream Sequence, Nick Throws-Up at Side of Road, Nick and Chet Leave School/Chet Calls in Excuse, Chango F&(@$ Juicy, Nick Chases Chet, Dwayne Finds Major Wounded, and Vito's Commercial.
• Outtakes (1080p, 6:14): Travis Thinks the Major is Jacked, Chet Tells Nick Worse Ways to Die, and Dwayne and Travis Talk Tanning Codes.
• Previews: Additional Sony titles.
• BD-Live.

30 Minutes or Less Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

30 Minutes or Less is a quality little Action/Comedy hybrid that sees its characters play out a rather complicated and deadly serious game of life and death and robbery and friendship through a comical prism. The movie is well-balanced and enjoyable. It's not always on the top of its game, but it's just different enough to offer cinephiles a nice change-of-pace from the usual big Action movies and repetitively dull sex comedies. Sony's Blu-ray release, no surprise, is shipshape. Video and audio are pretty much faultless, and the included extras are right on the money in terms of length and scope for a movie like this. Recommended.