Michael Peña — Film Noir Blonde

‘Fury’ hits hard with a powerful story and fine performances

Fury/2014/Columbia Pictures/134 min.

Writer/director David Ayer’s “Fury,” a World War II drama, is a force to behold, with one of Brad Pitt’s finest performances.

The movie is set in April of 1945 and the war is coming to an end, but this is no gradual winding down. Instead, it’s a tooth and nail fight, a savage final struggle to defeat the Nazis on the European front. Pitt plays an army sergeant nicknamed Wardaddy who commands a Sherman tank and a crew of men.

Boyd (Shia LaBeouf) clings steadfastly to religion to get him through. Jon Bernthal’s Coon and Michael Peña’s Gordo gave up hope a long time ago. Logan Lerman, as a new addition named Norman, shows us a heart-wrenching evolution from paper-pusher to Nazi-slayer.

The soldiers hold their own for a while but, as they push through enemy lines, it becomes frighteningly clear that they are far outnumbered by the Germans.

Pitt melds fierce intensity and psychological battle scars with layers of mystery, dignity and reserve. The rest of the cast (including Anamaria Marinca and Alicia von Rittberg as German women the men encounter) match him, beat for beat, thanks to assured and nuanced direction from Ayer.

‘Fury’ can be hard to watch at times – it’s gory and graphic from the start – but war is hell, remember. And this is one hell of a story.

“Fury” opens in theaters today.

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Crime comedy ‘30 Minutes or Less’ fails to deliver

30 Minutes or Less/2011/Columbia Pictures/83 min.

Asking for a refund at a movie theater is an old joke. But it’s funnier than most of the material in “30 Minutes or Less,” by director Ruben Fleischer.

The premise has potential – a feckless pizza delivery guy (Jesse Eisenberg) is coerced into robbing a bank by two yahoos (Danny McBride and Nick Swardson) who need to raise cash to pay a hitman (Michael Peña). Pizza guy ropes his straight-arrow best friend (Aziz Ansari) into helping him.

There’s a smart, pretty girl involved (Dilshad Vadsaria). There’s a deadline and a ticking bomb. Worlds could collide, tension could build, funny lines could pop out of the mouths of authentically drawn characters.

Early on, it’s clear that none of the above is going to happen. Though the cast makes an effort (especially Ansari and Peña), the weak script by Michael Diliberti makes no sense, the flat direction induces yawns and cringes in equal measure, and the increasingly desperate hodgepodge of gags in the hopes that something will stick is downright tedious.

Having been a fan of Fleischer’s “Zombieland” from 2009 (written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick), I was looking forward to “30 Minutes or Less.” I like Eisenberg and respect his talent. I’m from Michigan (the film is set in Grand Rapids). I wanted to like this movie!

As it turned out, though, I couldn’t shake the feeling that “30 Minutes” was a project by a group of high school kids. Even then, you might get some good laughs appealing to your juvenile side. But my inner child quickly curled up for a nap and the three boys in the next row might as well have been taking an exam, so thick was their silence throughout the flick.

“30 Minutes or Less” was 83 minutes I wish I’d spent some other way.

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