Saturday, August 13, 2011

30 Minutes or Less

30 Minutes or Less
Directed by: Ruben Fleischer
Written by: Michael Diliberti


Plot:
Two fledgling criminals kidnap a pizza delivery guy, strap a bomb to his chest, and inform him that he has mere hours to rob a bank or else.


Review:
I hope everybody knows that the premise of this film is based of real events. In 2003, a pizza delivery guy, Brian Wells, had a bombed strapped to his body in Erie, Pennsylvania.


"Handcuffed and tethered to a bomb, pizza delivery man Brian Douglas Wells sat on one of the city's busiest streets and wailed for help."Why isn't nobody trying to come get this thing off me?" he screamed to police. "It's going to go off. I'm not lying. Did you call my boss? I'm not doing this. This isn't me." Police had just arrested him on suspicion of robbing a bank. Officers backed off after they noticed the bomb, and they called the bomb squad. Wells sat on the street that afternoon, Aug. 28, handcuffed for nearly 30 minutes. At 3:18 p.m., the bomb exploded, killing the meek, gentle man who did not appear to have a criminal record. The death of Wells, who lived in a renovated garage that had been turned into a home, shook this city 90 minutes east of Cleveland." (http://blog.cleveland.com/pdextra/2007/07/bank_robber_or_victim_case_of.html)


I just wanted to put that out there for all to know before going any further.


With a cast that has Aziz Ansari, Jesse Eisenberg, Nick Swardson, and Danny McBride as its four leads you have to expect the movie to shit greatness. Well it didn't deliver that punch. The only one that really stood out to me was Aziz Ansari. He is already making a name for himself on Parks and Recreations and I think he should lead his own comedy real soon. The other three were just mediocre. 


I think a big reason this movie was a miss is because it was extremely disrespectful. It had no class and I can't even imagine what the family and friends of Brian Wells must be thinking right now. The movie was very funny at times but when I laughed it just felt wrong. It was cheap humor that was making fun of a completely horrific situation. You can't blame the A-List talent since it was definitely the script.


I hated the ending too. It felt like they had just kicked Brian Well's family in the nuts, while they were already down and out. The film looked like it had a ton of promise but I guess I should have known better, with such a touchy premise. I am really bummed that this movie came off as a douche bag.


Rating: 5.5/10

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