30 minutes or less | tragic 2003 true-crime case

"30 Minutes or Less" is based upon the tragic 2003 true-crime case of Pennsylvania pizza man Brian Wells, who was allegedly forced to rob a bank with a bomb strapped around his neck, then was killed after it detonated. Director Ruben Fleischer (2009's "Zombieland"), first-time screenwriter Michael Diliberti, and studio Columbia Pictures can try to deny or deflect this fact all they want, but the proof is up there on the screen, its similarities too eerie and numerous to be coincidental.
30 Minutes or Less. Final Destination 5 IN 3-FRIGGIN-D! The Help. Glee IN 3-FRIGGIN-D! Yeah, they’re all hitting big this weekend, and some of them are sure to have a decent enough opening. But those apes, man.

They’ve got the box office on primate lock-down, and they’re not letting anyone take the crown away from them.
As preposterous as all of this sounds, the story is pretty clearly modeled on an actual 2003 Pennsylvania case involving another not-very-bright pizza delivery guy, Brian Wells, who took part—willingly, in Wells’ case—in robbing a bank for two real-life idiots. Wells agreed to be fitted with what he thought was a fake time bomb; he was apprehended by police in mid-heist, though, and then discovered, in one sudden, explosive moment, that the bomb was in fact not fake.
the bomb is the biggest red herring here, a device to take an already amplified action comedy and turn it into a white water whirlwind. It’s like a magnetic, drawing in divergent elements that would never otherwise coexist within a standard comedy. Since Fleischer isn’t twisting convention, reimaging genres as he piles on the jokes, he shows little true panache.
the bomb is the biggest red herring here, a device to take an already amplified action comedy and turn it into a white water whirlwind. It’s like a magnetic, drawing in divergent elements that would never otherwise coexist within a standard comedy. Since Fleischer isn’t twisting convention, reimaging genres as he piles on the jokes, he shows little true panache.
The movie claims to be only 83 minutes long, but it's the longest 83 minutes to come along in quite awhile" —Philadelphia Inquirer

The young actors and comedians have moments of brilliance in this part comedy and part action movie. There is no redeeming social value to this film other than the fact that it is entertaining and you don't feel like you have wasted too much of your time.