WISE Score
Avg. Tomatometer
Jesse Eisenberg delivers pizza and bank robberies in a movie that’s somehow more stressful than a real Friday night rush.
45%
45%View →30 Minutes or Less is a loud, crude action comedy that tries to turn a bomb threat into a laugh riot. It’s not particularly clever, and it definitely hasn't aged into a 'classic.'
Unless you’re a die-hard fan of the 2010s R-rated comedy wave, there are much better ways to spend 80 minutes. It’s essentially cinematic junk food that’s gone a bit stale.
This is strictly for adults or older teens who have already seen everything. With an R rating for nudity, pervasive language, and violence, it’s not even close to being kid-friendly.
The plot centers on a kidnapping, a bomb threat, and a forced bank robbery. It's built on high-stress situations, crude insults, and criminal activity.
The high-concept premise is actually quite original, but the execution settles into a very standard, formulaic buddy-action-comedy groove.
Hard R-rated content. Pervasive profanity (300+ F-bombs), a strip club scene with nudity, and realistic threats of violence make this entirely unsuitable for children.
There's very little substance here. It's a 'turn your brain off' comedy that doesn't offer much in the way of character growth or ethical insight.
This movie landed right at the tail end of a specific era where every comedy felt like it was trying to out-swear and out-shock the last one. If you’ve spent any time watching the big R-rated hits from that decade, you know the rhythm: two guys who aren't quite friends yelling at each other in a car while everything goes wrong.
The problem here is the vibe. While other movies from this period managed to feel like a wild night out, this one often feels like a stressful shift at work. It’s trying to be a "high-stakes caper," but the stakes—a man with a bomb strapped to his chest—are so high they actually smother the humor. Critics and audiences are unusually united on this one, with both Rotten Tomatoes scores sitting in the mid-40s. It’s not a "so bad it’s good" situation; it’s just aggressive.
The main reason to even consider hitting play is the cast. Jesse Eisenberg does his trademark high-strung, fast-talking routine, and Aziz Ansari brings a manic energy that provides the few genuine laughs in the script. When they are just bickering about their friendship, the movie almost works.
But then Danny McBride shows up as the antagonist, and the tone shifts into something much meaner. If you’re a fan of his specific brand of loud, delusional characters, you might find some value here, but the script doesn't give him much to work with beyond being a jerk. The movie leans heavily on the "bumbling criminal" trope, but instead of being charmingly incompetent, the characters often just feel irritating.
There is an elephant in the room that makes this a tough sell for anyone who knows their true crime history. The central hook—a pizza delivery guy forced to rob a bank with a bomb around his neck—is based on a real-life tragedy known as the Brian Wells case.
In real life, that story ended in a horrifying way that wasn't remotely funny. Watching a comedy try to mine that specific scenario for "wacky" bank robbery jokes creates a level of discomfort that’s hard to shake. If you or your older teens are sensitive to that kind of "too soon" (or "too real") humor, this is going to feel tasteless rather than edgy.
If your teen is lobbying to watch this because they saw a clip on social media or they’ve run through the "greats" of the genre, just know that this is a tier-three choice. It’s the kind of movie you put on when you’ve already seen everything else and you just want something loud to fill the room while you scroll on your phone.
It’s currently sitting on Netflix, making it an easy "why not?" pick for a Friday night, but with a Letterboxd score of 2.6, the consensus is clear: it’s forgettable. If you want something with this cast or this energy, there are a dozen better options from the same era that actually land their jokes without the mean-spirited aftertaste.
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