In terms of its plot, 30 Minutes or Less is one of those comedies that's at once both completely simple and needlessly complex. The labored set-up kicks off with redneck idiot Dwayne (Danny McBride, who excels at playing redneck idiots) deciding to off his old man (Fred Ward) in order to claim his rapidly depleting inheritance. Acting on the sage advice of a local stripper, he enlists the services of a Detroit-based hitman (Michael Peña), but needs to come up with a cool hundred grand to pay the guy off. Since he and his best friend/accomplice Travis (Nick Swardson) have no job and few marketable skills, the most obvious solution to his problem is to rob a bank. But since he also wants to avoid winding up in prison, Dwayne decides to make someone else rob a bank for him. That someone else turns out to be underachieving pizza delivery boy Nick (Jesse Eisenberg), who rushes a pie to Dwayne's junkyard hideout one night and wakes up the next morning with a bomb strapped to his chest. A timer wired to the explosive device gives him 10 hours to get the cash, otherwise... kaboom! In a panic, Nick turns to his own best friend Chet (Ansari), an ambitious public school teacher, to plan the perfect bank heist... or, at least, a basic snatch-and-grab that doesn't leave either of them dead or behind bars.

Got all that? Good, because the protracted exposition is the least amusing part of the film. But once Nick is hooked up to the bomb and the clock starts ticking, the pacing improves considerably. The bank robbery itself happens midway through and it's a terrific comic set-piece, one that leads into an equally strong car chase directed in the style of another Eddie Murphy classic Beverly Hills Cop, complete with a music cue that audiences are sure to recognize. 30 Minutes or Less is the sophomore feature from Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer and like that horror comedy (which also starred Eisenberg), it's cheekily self-aware of its genre (beyond Beverly Hills Cop, there are notable shout-outs to Lethal Weapon, Die Hard and Heat) without turning into a lame spoof a la Epic Movie or Meet the Spartans. The McBride/Swardson material will probably divide audiences the most, largely because both comics (particularly McBride) are something of an acquired taste. And, as usual, Eisenberg provides a strong center for the film, his deadpan stylings effectively balancing out the wilder antics of the supporting players.

Still, this is first and foremost Ansari's showcase and he nails each scene like he's been acting in movies for ages. Truth be told, his character isn't all that different from the stand-up persona he's honed onstage; Chet talks a mile a minute and always has a handy pop-culture related quip at the ready. (48 Hrs. was the same situation, of course; the role was extensively re-written to play to Murphy's established strengths.) What the film does provide is new situations and people for Ansari to react to in the moment. For every line that makes it into the movie, it's easy to imagine that he came up with at least a dozen more that are saved in an Avid file somewhere. It took Eddie Murphy about six years to squander the goodwill engendered by 48 Hrs.. Let's hope that Ansari's turn in the spotlight lasts a little longer.