In short, "30 MInutes of Less" is a amateurish version of "Pineapple Express" (It even begins with the main character smoking pot while doing his menial job.) and it has a feel of a big budget version of a high school film class production. There are some funny moments but almost all of the jokes come from dialogue and there aren't that many laughs that come from the situation itself. In fact, pretty much everything is explained via expository dialogue. Still, it's a decent diversion and you don't leave entirely disappointed but it just strikes me as a film that will be appreciated more when discovered on DVD or cable than when you go out and spend 11 bucks in the theater to see it.

One of the biggest issues with the film is that it has an oddball, unfinished feel to it. The first reason is the casting. It's odd to see Jesse Eisenberg trying to actually act and then cutting to Aziz Ansari and Nick Swardson, who deliver some of the funniest lines but are not particularly strong actors. There's a reason that Michael Pena delivers the best performance of the movie and that's because he seems to be the only guy who has the complete package of being able to act and be funny. Danny McBride is fine in the movie but it's the same Danny McBride performance he has settled into and it's starting to get a bit stale. As for Eisenberg, while he does break a bit from his usual role, he just didn't seem to be the right fit for this flick. With the character being so underwritten, you needed someone who exuded slacker and that's just not Eisenberg. I think Eisenberg and Franco should have swapped roles of this and "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" and both movies would have been better off.
As for unfinished, as I noted before, for a film with an interesting concept, almost no jokes come from the scenario. Almost all of the laughs come from one liners (many of which may have been improvised.) There's a bit about the main guys loving action movies and they get some tips from Point Break but it's a half-assed storyline. It's almost like they had it in the script, realized that it was too much like "Hot Fuzz" and a few other flicks that have done the same learning from movies storyline and they abandoned it. The heist scene is kind of funny but it too seemed rushed and didn't really get the most out of the potential. And, in terms of setting up the world in which it operates, the film opens up with Eisenberg's pizza delivery guy driving all crazy which kind of works against the film. It needed an open establishing the lame, boring life that is then thrown out of sorts. As it plays, there's a pseudo-action scene, a big argument, and then we're off to the races. I don't need a 30 minute first act to build character but the entire film just seemed rushed. (Fittingly, just as this review is rushed which is why it's not one of my better blog posts.)

Director Ruben Fleischer delivered a solid comedy with "Zombieland" but he kind of seems to be aping Simon Pegg and Nick Frost's films. "Zombieland" was strong but was no "Shaun of the Dead". Similarly, "Hot Fuzz" was a step back for Pegg/Frost as was "30 Minutes or Less" was for Fleischer.

But, again, while I was disappointed that the film didn't get more out of its concept and was miscast, it still is a funny enough flick that you won't leave completely let down. I just think the odds are better that you'll enjoy it if you wait until DVD/cable.