VOD Spotlight: “30 Minutes or Less” leaps from the “Black List” to the screen

In the action-comedy 30 Minutes or Less, Nick (Jesse Eisenberg) is a small-town pizza delivery guy whose mundane life collides with the big plans of two wannabe criminal masterminds (Danny McBride and Nick Swardson). The volatile duo kidnaps Nick and forces him to rob a bank. With mere hours to pull off the impossible task, Nick enlists the help of his ex-best friend, Chet (Aziz Ansari). As the clock ticks, the two must deal with the police, hired assassins, flamethrowers and their own tumultuous relationship.

For the film, star Eisenberg reunited with his Zombieland director, Ruben Fleischer. For his part, Fleischer was drawn to the uniqueness of the screenplay, which had landed on the prestigious Black List, an inside-Hollywood tally of the best unproduced screenplays. Fleischer says that everyone involved with the project was first lured by the inventive spark of the screenplay and story. “It had a really original voice,” says the director. “I was excited to read a movie that wasn’t a straightforward, predictable comedy – it was hard to know where this movie was going when I was reading it.”

Fleischer also says he was attracted to the project because it offered him the opportunity to make the kind of movie that originally inspired him to become a director. “I was really lucky after Zombieland: I was able to read a lot of scripts and make a choice about my taste and the kinds of movies I like,” he says. “30 Minutes or Less was certainly very funny and it had enough action in it to satisfy that desire on my part. But more importantly, it seemed like it combined the excitement of a 1980s John Landis action comedy with the sensibilities of the Coen brothers. As those are two of my favorite filmmakers, I was excited by the opportunity to make this film.”

“30 Minutes or Less” is available starting Nov. 29 on Video On Demand. Check your cable system for availability.

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