What would make 30 Minutes or Less (2011) better would be is if it lived up to its title in its runtime.  That is mean of me to say, and not very Christian.  If I may be slightly more generous, I intended that comment in the spirit of the film’s lack of originality.  At least that is expressing my displeasure indirectly?  While it does qualify as a feature-length, it only barely qualifies as such, and that is perhaps its best quality.  Does that count as a compliment?  Anyway, on with the review.

We start 30 Minutes or Less with Nick Davis (Jesse Eisenberg) on a quest to accomplish delivering a pizza in the eponymous time frame.  He is unsuccessful, and the rudely punctilious teenagers demand they get their food for free.  Nick makes a counteroffer to get them beer and the drives off with their money without returning.  After his shift is over, he meets his best friend, teacher Chet Flanning (Aziz Ansari), who is getting home from a date.  How we first see Chet is best left unremarked upon.  The two are contrasts, with Chet at least having a semblance of a career, and Nick still working in a low wage job.  This comes out in Nick’s desire to stay up watching movies, but Chet insisting that he must get to bed for work the next day.  One thing they have in common is their care for Chet’s sister, Kate Flanning (Dilshad Vadsaria), though Nick’s feelings are of a decidedly more romantic nature.  The next day, Nick meets Kate, and she tells him about the new position for which she has been hired, to manage a hotel.  The promotion means that she will be moving away, which is a sad development for him.  He says as much to Chet, who does not understand why anyone would be mad about Kate doing better.  It is at this point that Nick admits to having slept with Chet’s sibling, which leads to an argument between the two friends.  During the spat, more revelations come out, such as Chet essentially being responsible for Nick’s parents divorcing.  The long and short of all this is that they decide to no longer speak to one another.  Meanwhile, there is another set of friends who are having fewer difficulties.  They are Travis Cord (Nick Swardson) and Dwayne “King Dwayne” Mikowlski (Danny McBride).  I will not be using Dwayne’s nickname.  Also, their friendship is pretty one-sided, with Dwayne believing he is smarter than Travis, and not being shy about it.  Travis does have one talent, explosives, and this is how they spend most of their time.  They do not need steady work because Dwayne lives off his father’s, former Marine Jerry “The Major” Mikowlski (Fred Ward), fortune.  Dwayne does not appreciate what he has, and Jerry is critical of his son’s apparent laziness.  Dwayne does not deal with his resentment in a healthy manner.  He discusses his frustration with a stripper named Juicy (Bianca Kajlich), which is a further sign of his poor decisions.  She doubles down on the awfulness by suggesting that he murder Jerry and take dad’s money, and she will help him do it.  Dwayne brings this idea to Travis, who is unsure of its wisdom, but willing to go along with whatever his supposed friend decides.  Juicy offers to have her friend, Chango (Michael Peña), do the deed, but the hitman will need a $100,000 fee.  Because Dwayne does not have that kind of money himself, he will have to get it.  However, he does not want to do anything nefarious himself.  Instead, they need somebody to deliver it to them, somebody they think they can manipulate.  At that moment, they see an ad on television for the pizza restaurant for which Nick works.  All it takes is for Dwayne and Travis to make an order, and Nick arrives.  Disguising themselves with monkey masks, Dwayne and Travis strap a bomb suit of Travis’ invention to Nick.  They then tell Nick he has ten hours to come up with $100,000 or they will detonate the explosive.  If Nick goes to the police, they will also set off the device.  Facing such a situation, Nick makes arguably the worst decision of the entire film: he goes to the school where Chet works to beg the teacher for help.  Miraculously, Chet agrees, but on the condition that Nick never again speak to Kate.  Nick agrees, and they next steal a car so as not to have Nick’s vehicle be traced.  They also purchase toy guns in order to pull off their planned bank heist.  Before doing so, Nick quits his job then runs to Kate’s apartment to express his feelings for her in case something bad should happen.  The bad that happens is that Travis observes their interaction.  As for the robbery, it goes relatively as planned, and Chet and Nick manage to get away after a chase.  However, when they go to where they are supposed to make the exchange, they are instead greeted by Chongo.  Chet manages to knock out Chongo, and Chet and Nick make off with the money.  Further, Chongo is furious with Dwayne, especially after Jerry shoots the hitman in the neck during the killing.  With things seemingly falling apart, Travis suggests that he and Dwayne kidnap Kate in order to force Nick into handing over the loot.  The exchange is made, and with Chet using a laser pointer to make it look like he is a sniper, Nick is about to get away with Kate.  Just as they are about to get into Nick’s car, Chongo arrives.  However, he is more of a distraction, allowing Chet, Kate, and Nick to escape $100,000 richer.  The final scene is of Dwayne trying to catch them, but his vehicle exploding due to the bomb vest being in the back.

It is fitting that 30 Minutes or Less ends with an explosion.  I mean, why not?  It is full of characters making poor choices, and as such, I am not sure what to say about it from a Catholic perspective.  The best I can do is to talk about the friendship between Chet and Nick.  Nick does not have much ambition, and is initially unwilling to apologize for anything he had said to Chet as they argued.  Nonetheless, Nick does do one Christian thing.  As he is asking Chet for help, Nick admits that he is the lesser man.  One could say that it is a false humility, born of his desperate, life-or-death situation.  That does not take away from the validity of the sentiment.  For comparison’s sake, it is difficult to imagine Dwayne having the wherewithal to say something similar, even with his life on the line.  This virtue also extends to Chet.  In the same discussion when Nick avows his humbleness, Chet accepts his friend’s supplication.  Chet adds that if he let Nick die, the death would haunt the former’s conscience.  God gives us such instincts because He wants us to use them in this manner, for the benefit of others.  On the other hand, doing so leads to Chet being involved in a crime.  Committing such acts is never acceptable because there is no such thing as sin helping anyone, particularly the person who commits one.  Then again, that is this film for you.

As such, I will not be recommending 30 Minutes or Less to you.  There is too much adult material in it to be of any value for anyone.  Pass.