Jesse Eisenberg plays Nick. Nick works at a pizza place called 30 Minutes or Less. Nick's best friend is Chet, played by Aziz Ansari. Chet is a substitute teacher who has now gone full time. This would mean he is just a regular teacher and there is really no need to mention the substitute part, but the film presents it this way and so will I. Together they bounce off of each other well. I remember when I was first introduced to Aziz in Funny People I despised him. I did not find him funny, despite numerous people who thought he was going to be the next Seth Rogen. It was not until I started watching the hilarious TV show Parks and Recreations did I see how funny Aziz can be. With that being said, those of whom are familiar with Parks and Recreations will find that Aziz plays Chet and Tom very similar. Jesse Eisenberg's ability to spit his dialogue out in rapid fire fasion works perfectly with this story.
Meanwhile two dim-witted individuals, Dwayne (Danny McBride) and his friend Travis(Nick Swardson) live at Dwayne's fathers house. Dwayne's father, or simply "Major", is a retired Marine who is embarrassed of these two as they have nothing to show for in life. After many years of buying lottery tickets the Major finally hits it big with a ten million dollar jackpot. Dwayne knows that once his father dies he will be able to get the inheritance money, thus he hires a contract killer to take his father out. When the assassin demands 100,000 dollars up front, Dwayne and Travis come up with the idea of capturing a pizza delivery boy and forcing him to rob a bank. He of course happens to call Nick.
The big reveal is that Dwayne and Travis have strapped a bomb to Nick's body. This is where Jesse works best, his ability to portray paranoia when the bomb is finally strapped to his chest is convincing and works. Nick has ten hours to come up with the money or the bomb will detonate. Dwayne can also remote detonate the bomb if Nick attempts to call the police. From there Nick goes to Chet for help.
The rest of the film is an assortment of different gags detailing what it would be like to have a bomb strapped to your chest. It's a nice film that has a resolution that fits the films story well. It's nice to see a comedy that does not set up for a potential sequel. There are moments where the film feels to drag on, mostly because of Dwayne and Travis interactions. Danny McBride was clearly allowed to improvise and it shows. Sometimes this works well, but other times it feels forced. That is the worst thing you can do in a comedy is to try and be funny. The material has to be funny by nature. However with that being said the film succeeds as a comedy. It's a perfect late-night Netflix film.
3/4 Muffins
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